Country
by Silvercreekmama
Summary: Daryl/OFC AU. It was the best job of his life. She was just trying to put her life back together. Somewhere between the dinner table, the garden, and a bar masquerading as a barbeque joint they started living.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is my first Daryl/OFC AU. Carylers, please don't hate me! I firmly believe Carol is the only one for Daryl. But the thought of plunking Daryl down in the middle of my grandfather's farm (We're one hour from Senoia) with a younger, slimmer, single version of myself was too good to let go. (Blame SOA lovin mom for making me brave) This fic will update fairly quickly and won't affect my others, (I'm already 10 chapters into this one)**

The smell and heat of the lunch they were cooking made the air in the kitchen even more heavy and oppressive. She really should have been used to it by now, she had been helping Mamaw cook in here since she was old enough to stand in a chair at the counter and roll out biscuits. But here she stood, stirring the huge pot of greens while sweat ran down her back and pooled in rather unpleasant places, dishrag in her free hand to mop her face.

"Amber! Don't let the okra scorch!" Mamaw called from the pantry where she had gone to find a jar of last years peaches for a cobbler.

"I ain't Mamaw! Good-NESS! You act like I ain't never cooked before!"

"I know," admitted her grandmother as she stepped into the kitchen with two quart jars of fruit, "that's just the last of what we put up last year. Burn it and your Papaw'll pitch a fit."

Amber rolled her eyes at the thought of her grandfather pitching any kind of fit. He was the quietest person she knew, preferring hard work his whole life over talk. The worst he would do would be only eat two helpings instead of three.

The back door creaked on it's hinges and then slammed. Without looking up Amber yelled "Not done yet!"

She jumped when a familiar voice yelled back from across the bar "I know!"

"Mama! Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Got off early, stayed late to put up stock yesterday." Debra explained and then addressed the older woman at the sink.

"Who's that up under that old truck with Daddy?"

"New hand, he's going to be working over the summer. Some young boy."

Huh, Amber thought, as she moved heavy pots and pans off the stove and onto hot pads on the bar. That's not very descriptive. She knew any man under the age of fifty would be young to her Mamaw.

"Why don't you take'm some drinks Amber? It's awful hot."

"I'm cookin'. Mama, can you?"

"No, you can," a still spry Roxie Dover said as she shooed her granddaughter from the stove. "I need to talk to your Mama."

"Fine," Amber huffed, grabbing two of the green plastic snuff glasses they used for everyday out of the cabinet. "I know Papaw'll want ice water. But what about the other guy? Water? Tea? Coke?"

"Tea probably and his name's Daryl."

A few moments later she was headed out the back porch door, the creak and slam the same as it was moments before and for decades before that. Only when she hit the gravel drive that separated the house from the shop did she remember that she had forgotten shoes.

"Oh, well," she murmured,"ain't like I haven't walked down here barefoot before."

The old blue pick up sat in the left bay of the shop with two sets of similarly dressed legs sticking out from under it. Amber stopped between the two and then tapped on the fender with the ball of her foot.

"Y'all thirsty?"

She heard her grandfather grunt and then the heavier set of legs flexed as he pulled himself out from under the truck on the rollers. Amber smiled to herself as he emerged. The old man was never going to change. It was ninety degrees and he still wore a set of navy blue heavy work pants and long sleeved matching shirt. His dark blonde hair had become almost totally white since she was a child and his face was deeply lined now, but he was still the strong man who had taught her so much.

He took the ice water from her and popped his fist against the car once.

"C'mon, boy. Gotta take a break." His voice was quiet but commanding as always.

Amber saw a wrench clatter to the ground at the side of the truck and the other man pulled himself out in one smooth motion.

She nearly dumped every bit of that sweet tea and ice in his lap.

_Arms. Oh my God, ARMS!_

The man was no where near what her Papaw usually hired as help. Most times it was older men, late forties or fifties, who had more tattoos than teeth but behaved there self well enough and could rip apart an engine with their eyes closed.

This Daryl was dirty but that is where the resemblance stopped. This man was younger, probably mid thirties. He wore the same work clothes as her Papaw but the pants were ripped over one knee and the sleeves had been roughly cut out of the shirt. His arms and wide shoulders were sculpted, not the vain muscles of a bodybuilder but taut and toned from hard work. Dark hair that looked longish but it was hard to tell with the way it was soaked with sweat and clinging to his neck. He didn't look up at her, just grabbed a rag out of his back pocket to wipe his hands. His motion reminded her she was staring, actually staring and holding her breath.

By the time he tucked the rag back in his pocket she was holding the glass in front of his face.

"Tea alright? Papaw won't drink it but Mamaw said you might."

He nodded but didn't look up at her when he took the glass.

"S'fine." he mumbled and then downed the whole thing in one go, pausing to press the cold side of it to his face before handing it back.

She took it and then collected her grandfather's own empty one.

"I'd bring y'all some more but dinners about ready anyway. Give me about ten minutes and it'll be on the table."

He gave the older man a confused look.

Amber jumped in, already fighting the urge to babble. "All the workers always eat with the family. No exceptions."

"Get used to it, son. Roxie won't have it any other way." Papaw added.

Daryl seemed to hesitate,clearly uncomfortable, but then gave a terse nod before jerking himself back up under the pick up. Amber looked over and just shrugged at the older man before heading up to the house. Most of the hired hands practically tripped over themselves to get to the food in her grandmothers kitchen.

She headed back up to the house deep in thought. This whole thing stunk of her Mamaw's and Mama's doings. No wonder they had her bring the drinks out. She had to put a stop to this. My God, the divorce wasn't even final yet and they were pulling this crap. She had moved back here to get a break. This had to be nipped in the bud, NOW!

**Y'all know what to do! Review me baby! More TWD characters are introduced shortly.**


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm not stupid!" she hissed as the three of them bustled around the kitchen. "and I AM NOT INTERESTED!"

"What are you talking about?" asked her mother, feigning innocence.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, this new hired hand!"

"He IS good lookin'" her grandmother remarked as she passed between them with a platter of biscuits.

"You!" Amber whirled around, hands on her hips. "You're the mastermind behind this!"

"Sorry, girl." she answered, still attending to the table "Your Papaw hired him. Honey, he had nowhere to go. His Daddy's dead, his brother's in jail. It's simple Christian charity. He's staying in the rental house."

Amber felt her eyes widen, her grandparents rental house was next door.

"Christian charity my a..."

Creak.

Slam.

Oh, shit.

Her grandfather lead the way in, Daryl carefully making his way behind him. The older man didn't hesitate in the kitchen door.

"Follow me, son. Roxie won't let us to the table till we wash up."

As soon as they headed down the hall Amber felt a decidedly maternal elbow in her ribs. "For you not to be interested you sure do shut up and stare."

She just rolled her eyes and helped her grandmother finish up the table before the men finished up in the bathroom. It nearly groaned under the weight of all the food: fried pork chops, turnip greens, creamed potatoes, fried okra, biscuits and gravy. As usual, they had made enough to feed an army. Roxie Dover didn't know any other way.

Daryl now sat fidgeting at the opposite side of the bar between her grandfather and mother. Amber and Roxie stood on the other side. She felt a plate thrust into her hands, " Here, I'll fix your Papaws and you can do Daryl's." Amber scowled at her grandmother but took the plate anyway and turned to Daryl.

"Anything on the table you don't want?"

He didn't even look up or at the food before answering. "Naw."

She loaded up the plate and then slipped it in front of him before moving to pour his tea. He gave her a nod of thanks. As she stepped to the fridge she heard Roxie, "G'head, Silas, bless it." Amber dropped her head where she stood, listening to him drone the same prayer she had heard over every meal in that house. She chanced a glance at Daryl. He squirmed in his seat, tapping one boot toe on a rung of the bar stool he sat on.

_Hmm, must not be the church going type._

As soon as the prayer was finished she poured the tea and stepped behind Daryl's left shoulder and brought the glass around to set it on the table. Her forearm brushed his bare outer shoulder and she froze when the muscles in his back bunched visibly under his shirt.

_What? Why did he flinch?_

She made her way to her seat. The first few minutes of the meal were fairly relaxed, the men ate in silence as the women discussed the food. Daryl finished his off quickly and Roxie shot Amber a look before he could drop his fork into the empty plate. She glared back but grabbed it anyway. He finally looked up, meeting her eyes with an eyebrow cocked.

_Blue. So blue._

She heard her own voice as if from far away, "All the men folk take seconds, or Mamaw'll think you're sick and send you home."

"A'ight."

She set the refilled plate back in front of him and took her own seat. Roxie cleared her throat before speaking. "I'm so lucky to have Amber's help, she's such a good cook. Enjoying your food?" The question was obviously for Daryl. Amber tried her best not to throttle the woman at the dinner table.

Daryl glanced between the women before answering. "Yes'm. Biscuits 'specially." Amber felt her death glare slip into a small smile as she turned to him. He really did like the biscuits, he was on his third filled with butter and pear preserves.

"So," her mother interjected, " what does my slave driver daddy have you doing around here?"

Daryl thought for a moment and answered after he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "In the shop in the mornin', garden after lunch."

"In the GARDEN?" Amber almost shrieked. DAMMIT! This was too much. The garden was HERS. She composed herself only after she noted the four sets of eyes trained on her.

"I...I mean... I usually handle the garden."

"Honey, it's so hot lately, you need the help." Roxie explained sweetly (too damn sweetly if you asked her granddaughter) "We can't risk you passing out or getting dehydrated out there by yourself."

Amber stood and began gathering the empty plates and platters, taking them to the sink. She couldn't sit at that table any more. She was washing a serving dish when her grandfather stood and donned his Panama sun hat, speaking to Daryl as he made his way to the door. "Garden with Amber until supper. We haven't got the gas hooked up in the rental house yet so you'll be taking all your meals here. I'll see you later."

Amber scrubbed harder, her mouth set in a firm line as the hot water sloshed the stomach of her shirt. Three meals a day she would be cooking for, serving, and eating across from those arms and blue eyes while her family extolled her virtues like she was some sort of heifer for auction. Then he would be working beside her in the garden every afternoon.

_Those arms, dripping in sweat and elbow deep in her prize tomato plants...SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! Where the hell did that come from?_

Debra motioned to the rectangular shape in Daryl's chest pocket. "You smoke?"

"Yes'm."

"C'mon then. I need a cigarette. If we hang around Mrs. Slave Driver will make us help with the dishes." She grabbed her pack and lighter from her purse and motioned for him to follow her onto the back porch. "Just don't dump ashes on Mom's begonias or she'll pitch a fit."

As soon as the door closed behind them Amber quietly addressed her grandmother where she stood drying the dishes to her left. "I can't do this."

"Do what?" She didn't look up from the cup in her hands.

"You know what." Amber fought back the tears that threatened. "Mamaw, I'm serious. Dante and I aren't even legally over yet!"

Roxie set down the last dish and placed her hands on Amber chin to force her to look her in the eyes. "And how long was it really over before now? You're so sad. We just want to see you happy again. Just be his friend. If that's it, then it's fine. He looks like he could use a friend and a few good home cooked meals."

Amber sighed as the woman gathered her into her arms. Her gentle pressure and the smell of her perfume were the same comfort they always had been for the last twenty seven years.

She suddenly stiffened and pulled back. "Oh, no, Mamaw! He's out there with Mama!" Roxie gave her a knowing look. Amber and Debra's relationship was closer to sisters than a true parent/child. Debra thought nothing of sticking her nose in her daughters business and embarrassing everyone involved.

"You best get that boy out to the garden then."

Amber bolted for the door, grabbing her gardening knife and a couple of sacks on the way.

Just friends. She could do this.


	3. Chapter 3

She could NOT do this.

Getting Daryl down to the garden was easy enough. When she stepped onto the porch he was leaning against the far corner, cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, fidgeting his fingers over the bannister. Amber looked over at her mom, who swayed lazily in the swing on the other end. She wiggled her eyebrows wickedly before stubbing out her own smoke and heading into the house.

"Y'all have fun."

Amber rolled her eyes and Daryl met her at the steps.

"Sorry about Mama. She's kinda a hand full."

"S'alright. Don't mean no harm." he shrugged.

"Huh, you don't know her like I do."

They fell into a comfortable silence on the walk down below the shop to the garden. When the green rows finally came into sight she heard Daryls voice low to her left.

"Damn..."

Amber leaned on the gate and smiled up at the surprised look on his face. He recovered and then blushed.

"Sorry, didn't mean ta..."

"It's alright, I'm not quite as strict as Mamaw and Papaw. Let a few words fly myself on occasion." She faced back to the green before them. "It always surprises people. When we say garden most think a few tomato plants and maybe some squash. Not an acre of 15 different kinds of vegetables not counting the fruit trees and corn field."

She handed him the knife and bags and reached over the gate for the latch. They stepped through and he followed her onto the main walkway.

"Ya do all this by yerself?"

"Most of it, this year anyway. Papaw tilled it for me with the the tractor, Mama and Mamaw help when they can. I don't mind. I enjoy it."

"Where we startin?"

"Squash. The first ones are ripe. You know how to tell?"

"I reckon."

"All right then."

That had been an hour and a half ago. He had actually out paced her, now about ten feet ahead on the opposite side of the row, kneeling in the dirt as he cut the yellow gourds from the vines with the big knife he wore on his waist. They hadn't really talked, just a couple of work related questions and answers between them. It felt good to be back out in the dirt and Amber relished not being forced into conversation. She was glad he was ahead of her, she could observe without being obvious.

His shirt was now pretty wet and clung to his muscled back. That was surprising. Most men lost their shirts shortly after starting in the garden when it was this hot, whether they were in as good of shape as Daryl or not. He definitely didn't seem religious so what was he hiding?

He had run his hands through his hair to push it out of his eyes early on and would mop his face with the grease rag every so often. Daryl was definitely the best worker she had ever had. No one, not even Papaw could match her in the garden once she had become an adult.

She looked down at her own arms, they were as dark with dirt as his now and her tank top was sticking to her skin. She was suddenly very thirsty.

"Break time."

He squinted back over his shoulder. "Ya sure? I can finish the row if ya need a minute."

"I'm sure. And you're gonna take a minute too. Papaw'll have my hide if I kill you on the first day."

Daryl snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, I reckon he will."

He stood slowly, she knew his knees had to be killing him after that long on them. Her own were stiff. He was just reaching Amber's part of the row when she straightened up. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit her and she felt herself sway. Before she could steady herself, his hand was around her upper arm as he stepped over the row.

"Ya alright?"

Amber opened her eyes and he was standing directly in front of her, his hand bracing her. She swallowed hard.

"Yeah, stood up too fast is all. Need a drink."

Daryl seemed to realize he was touching her, his eyes widened and he snatched his hand away as if burnt. "'kay" he mumbled, eyes looking everywhere but her own.

She chuckled. "Thanks, I probably would have ended up on my butt if you hadn't been there." Sensing his discomfort she decided to change the subject as she turned to head to the hose.

"You all right with water from the hose pipe?"

"Yeah." She barely heard his answer from behind her.

The faucet was rusted and wouldn't turn in her hand. She was turning to ask for his help but he was already there. He pulled at it with a grunt and the iron squealed in protest but then relented. They let the water run for a minute so it wouldn't be hot and Daryl nodded at her to go first. She drank deeply for a long while then bent over and directed the hose over her head. What the heck, the bun she had pulled her hair into that morning was already frizzing from the humidity. Amber squeaked when the cold water hit her neck. When she looked up Daryl was smirking at her.

_My Lord, why doesn't he smile more often?_

Then it was his turn to drink. Afterward, he hesitated then looked at her curiously.

"Your Maw gonna git my ass if I come into supper wet?"

Amber shook her head assuming he would wet his own head like she had. Instead, he stood up straight and let the hose run, letting it soak him all the way down to his work boots.

Every bit of moisture in her own mouth dried up as she saw rivulets of water run under the collar of his shirt and reappear at the bottom to run over the waistband of his pants. She looked away, chiding herself. Goodness, it was a hundred degrees out here. He needed to cool off before he passed out like she almost had and here she was ogling him.

She was broken from her thoughts when he leaned over to turn the water off in front of her. She sought something, anything to say that wouldn't sound stupid. He spoke first, saving her.

"Ya alright ta get back to it or ya need 'nother minute?"

"Yes...I mean...I'm alright."

They took their places back on the row and Amber took a deep breath as soon as he turned his back. They had another hour and a half before she could leave to help start supper and he was now totally soaked with the fabric of his shirt clinging to every plane and curve of his back. Water still ran down his neck to disappear under his collar.

She definitely was going to have a very hard time this summer.


	4. Chapter 4

They sat on opposite ends of the porch swing, balancing their supper plates in their laps. Roxie had deemed them both too filthy to eat supper inside. Amber knew that was a load of crap. Her Papaw would come in covered in grease from head to toe and could sit at the table as long as he washed his hands first.

It was obviously a ruse to get them to eat alone together. She probably should have been mad but was relieved instead. At least she wouldn't have to deal with everyone trying to talk her up to him. His shirt had dried enough so that she could look at him without blushing.

Amber searched for something to talk about as they finished eating. They couldn't sit in silence all the time.

"Supper's not quite the big affair around here that dinner is." She gestured toward her plate with the remains of her sandwich and chips.

He shrugged as he picked up the last half of his second sandwich. "Fine w'me. It all tastes good after workin all day."

"You definitely earned your pay and then some today. Nobody has even gotten ahead of me in the garden like you did."

"Your Paw's already done too much. Wasn't expectin' him ta put me up in the rental house 'n feed me too."

"He likes you. As long as you're honest and work hard he'll make sure you have what you need. And we always make too much food anyway."

He took the last swig of his sweet tea. "Ya mean ya'll eat like this every day?"

Amber gave him a wry smile. "Pretty much. It's kinda Mamaws thing, and mine too. We both love to cook."

"Ya do good." Daryl was looking out to the yard and even in the dim light she could see the red creep up his cheeks. The compliment had slipped. She decided to play it off to prevent further embarrassment.

She laughed. "Glad you think so, your gonna be eatin' it every day, three times a day."

He was now nervously chewing on a thumbnail after putting his empty plate on the railing next to his glass.

"You can smoke while I'm out here. I don't mind."

He seemed relieved but paused as he flipped open his lighter, "Ya sure?"

"Yeah, Mama's smoked my whole life. It doesn't bother me."

Daryl lit up and tucked his lighter back in his pocket. They passed the next few minutes just watching the lightning bugs begin to chase each other across the darkness in the quiet as he smoked. They both jumped in surprise when the door to the house slammed behind her mother as she stepped out. She set two wrapped plates between them, keeping a third in her hand.

"Here hon. I gotta get home, it's almost time for your daddy." She kissed Amber's head and then turned to Daryl. "Nice to meet you. I'll see ya at breakfast. It's nice to have someone to talk to while I smoke."

Daryl nodded. Amber didn't miss the confused the look on his face as Debra pulled her car out of the yard.

"She doesn't live here. My daddy just works long hours during the week. She eats breakfast and supper here, sometimes lunch when she gets off early like today."

"Makes sense, I guess."

"I don't live here either."

He turned toward her, his brow furrowed. "Ya don't?"

"Well, I live here on the property. But not in the big house. Did you see the little trailer on the pond below the garden?"

"With the chicken pen out front?"

"Yep. Those are my chickens and my house. It gives me a little space after being around everybody all day."

They watched the lightening bugs for a few more minutes until Daryl stubbed out his cigarette butt in the ashtray Debra kept under the swing. He stood and stretched.

"Well, I best get goin."

"Me too. Don't forget your plate."

He looked surprised but took it. "More food?"

"Peach cobbler. Mamaw is a firm believer in bedtime snacks."

They made their way down the steps and stood at the foot of them awkwardly. Amber dared to break the quiet.

"Breakfast is at seven."

"A'ight...um," he hesitated and ran his hand through his hair. "You walk all the way down ta your place by yourself in tha dark?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Ya really shouldn't...ah..."

Amber took pity on him. She could tell what he was getting at. He was just trying to be polite.

"The back way to my place branches off about halfway there and a path leads to your back yard. It's actually shorter. If you want to walk with me..."

Daryl ducked his head. "'kay"

They walked down through the garden without talking, which didn't seem to bother either of them. Amber reminded him of breakfast one more time at the fork in the path and then headed toward her place. When she turned to close her front door, the cherry of a cigarette glowed where she had left him leaning on the garden fence. Daryl had watched her as she walked the rest of the way home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Last update of the day. Just wanted to get the background laid. The rumors are true. I'm a review whore!**

"Come on ladies, give'em up!"

Amber shooed the hens off the nests, placing the eggs in the basket on her arm as she went. The early summer morning air was humid, already making her sweat in her blue jean cutoffs and pink tank top. She slid a little in her flip flops and regained her footing. She didn't startle when he spoke, smelling the smoke a second before.

"Shoulda wore your boots."

Daryl leaned on the door to the chicken coop, his arms crossed and the cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth as he smirked.

"Shut up." Amber glowered unconvincingly as she dumped her best hen, a blue australorp named Bertha Jean, out of her nest to get to the prize underneath.

The four days since Daryl had come to work for her grandfather had went increasingly better as the week wore on. Her family had seemed to get the hint that she wasn't interested in a relationship, and she and Daryl had edged from uneasy acquaintances to reasonably good co-workers, rarely needing more than a glance, nod, or at most a few words as they brought in the first wave of garden produce. Good thing, because the man certainly wasn't big on conversation, choosing to communicate with action. Amber didn't really know much more about him than she did at the beginning of the week. What she did know, was that it was taking almost all her willpower to keep her eyes and thoughts on her work instead of the man who now walked beside her on the path through the garden on the way to the big house. Maybe if she made it obvious she only was looking for a friendship, it would settle things down.

"You know, I'm sorry about how this week started out."

Daryl didn't look up or stop walking, just squinted down at the ground as he flipped his cigarette butt into the bushes.

"What ya mean?"

"I know you noticed how Mamaw and Mama were...well..."

Daryl snorted as he reached over the garden gate to unlatch it and let her through.

"Tryin ta be matchmakers?"

She laughed nervously as he locked the gate back. "Exactly. I made sure they knew I wasn't ready. My divorce isn't even final yet. And I can tell you aren't looking for that either."

Daryl nodded. "Right."

"But..."Amber hesitated "I really could use just a friend right now."

They were approaching the house now, and Daryl lowered his head as she passed him on the steps. She barely heard his answer as she passed.

"A'ight. Sounds good t'me."

It would be hours before she could shake the sick feeling that she had made some kind of mistake.

Amber's grandfather stacked the twenties on the table as she and her grandmother cleared the lunch dishes.

"Here you go, son. You earned that and more."

She saw Daryl nod his thanks as he tucked his pay in the breast pocket of his work shirt with his cigarettes. In just a week they had all seemed to learn his unspoken language of nods, shrugs, and looks. The older man prepared to leave and Daryl went to smoke on the porch.

"Why don't the two of you go out instead of eating supper here?"

Amber glared at her grandmother. Had they not worked out this whole 'not ready to date' stuff?

Roxie held up her hands as if she read her mind. "Just as friends, honey. You're Papaw and I are going to be at church setting up for this weekends camp meeting. Might as well not cook if it's just the two of you."

Amber thought for a minute. The idea was appealing, she hadn't really been off the farm except for shopping in over a month. Daryl definitely had worked himself into the ground this week. But this wasn't a large town, there was only one place they could go that wouldn't scream DATE. Her grandmother definitely wouldn't approve.

Amber grinned and headed out to the porch. She deserved a night out, and with a friend too.

Just a friend.

"You eat barbeque?"

Daryl looked at her like she had just asked if the sky was blue. "Hell yeah."

"Ever eat at Jake's?"

He remembered a dive he had drug Merle out of a couple of times. "Ain't that a bar?"

"New owner. They started servin' barbeque a couple months ago. Nobody'll be here but us tonight. Figure we could both use a break."

Daryl eyeballed her for a minute. "As friends?"

Amber nodded with a smile. Using Daryl's own tactic of as few words as possible was working.

"A'ight."

"Okay. I'll walk up to your place at six."

She was down the steps when he called out.

"Hey, you ever ride a motorcycle?"

She turned and grinned,"Honey, my daddy is the vice president of the Cartersville Harley Club. I was riding bitch before I could walk." She frowned, "You have a bike?"

Daryl jerked his head to the rental house. "Yeah, was my brother's before he got his ass in jail. Wear somethin' ya can ride in."

Amber headed toward her little trailer with a smile firmly in place. It was damn time she had a little fun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to my reviewers! We've got Daryl's POV now! These next few chapters flow so much better now that the out-of-canon characters are established. Now it's time we go to Jake's and meet up with some TWD favorites (and some we love to hate). **

_Dumbass_

He was a total dumbass.

Daryl had no idea what had possessed him to tell her they were taking the bike. It was like he got all brave the second Amber flashed that smile at him. Then she had dropped the bomb that she had ridden her whole life. Hell, her ex was probably a biker, a real one, not just a dumbass riding his brothers bike.

He shook his head as he looked in the mirror in the bathroom of the rental house. This was as good as it was going to get. He had put on his best jeans and a black t shirt after showering. His boots were cleaned up. Now he was looking down at Merle's vest in his hands. He slipped it on and ran his hands through his hair. The sleeves on the shirt were bothering him but no way was he going to cut them out. He settled on rolling them up a couple of times.

_Darylena tryin' ta look like a badass! _Merle's voice laughed inside his head.

Daryl rolled his eyes and headed out to the garage to pull off the tarp that he had covered the bike with when he had moved in a week ago. Standing back, he admired the black and chrome beauty. His softest rag was pulled out of the tool box and he wiped the Triumph down even though it really didn't need it. That was one thing he wouldn't have to fake. That bike was the fucking definition of badass.

"Wow."

Daryl spun round and his breath caught in his throat. Amber was standing in the garage doorway, hands on her hips as she admired the motorcycle. She was wearing a pair of jeans that looked like she had been poured into them. The faded denim had rips from the hips down, but they were the kind of rips that you paid extra for, strategically placed to show just enough. The bottoms flared to go over what looked to be a pair of brown cowboy boots with pink stitching. Her tank top was a little tighter and lower cut than the ones she wore during the week. The print made him smirk. It was that damn Mossy Oak Camo with the pink background. It definitely suited her personality.

_Tits too!_ Merle piped up in his head and Daryl's eyes shot up from where they had lingered just a second too long. Amber definitely wasn't one of those skinny meth whores like Merle used to drag home. The top of her head only came to his chin and those jeans made it obvious her waist was tiny. But her tits and ass went on for...

"...ready?"

Daryl jumped and shook his head. The woman made it obvious she needed a friend and here he was being a fucking pervert!

"Huh?"

"I said are you ready?" She was standing in front of him, holding out his helmet with the smaller one in her other hand. When the hell had she walked over and picked them up? _While you were droolin' over her! _He mentally kicked himself.

"Yeah, let me get it to the driveway then ya can hop on."

Daryl walked the bike to the garage door and jumped on, relishing the rumble under him when he turned the key. He had taken it out many times since Merle was arrested and loved the sense of freedom it gave him. He slipped his helmet on and then he felt Amber's hand on his shoulder as she brought her leg up and over. The bitch seat was the kind that sat up higher than the driver seat so when she scooted up her legs brushed the top of his hips almost at his waist. Daryl was glad she wasn't moving all the way up, it was going to be hard enough to keep his mind on the road with her barely touching him. He only flinched a little when he felt her hands at his waist, more holding on to the vest than him. She nodded behind him and he pulled them onto the road and then opened up the throttle.

Daryl had only ever rode by himself, but it only took a few seconds before he acclimated to the small differences in the balance and handling of the bike. It helped that Amber knew how to lean out of turns and seemed totally at ease behind him. He found himself relaxing despite her being so close, the roar of the engine beneath them much more comfortable than making conversation in his truck would have been.

The ride out to Jake's was about fifteen minutes, when they pulled up Daryl found himself disappointed that it was already over. He lucked out and got a parking place at the big front windows so he could keep an eye on the bike from inside. Amber hopped off even before he could say anything and he walked the Triumph in the space between a couple of really nice trucks. He didn't miss the appreciative looks some people gave the bike out the front window.

When Daryl turned around he realized not all of the looks were for their ride. Amber had taken off her helmet and taken her hair down where it had been piled up on top of her head. She was bent over after taking the pins and bands out and was running her hands through the waist length black waves. She had unknowingly given the guys at the bar tables in the window a view down her shirt.

A strange sensation shot through Daryl's gut and he felt himself turn back to the window as he stepped between her and the onlookers. He crossed his arms across his chest and glared and suddenly the handful of men found other places to look.

"Fuckin' perverts." he muttered under his breath.

"What?" Amber stepped around him headed for the door.

"Nothin'" he growled, following close behind. All his relaxation from the ride there had disappeared, he was his usual tight as a bowstring self now.

Daryl had a bad feeling about this. But come hell or high water, he was keeping an eye on Amber tonight.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thought I'd let you know what my playlist is for the next few chapters. Dixie Chicks:"Sin Wagon" Miranda Lambert: "Mama's Broken Heart" "Gunpowder and Lead" "Mama's Broken Heart" Blake Shelton "Hillbilly Bone" The Band Perry "Done" and Gretchen Wilson "Redneck Woman" **

**Reviews get unicorns and rainbows! **

"Why don't you grab us some drinks and I'll go get us a table?" Amber had to lean in and almost yell to be heard over the music. Blake Shelton's "Hillbilly Bone" was blasting from the speakers as a band was setting up.

"Ya want a beer?"

Amber wrinkled up her nose. "God no! That stuffs gross! I'll take two fingers of Tennessee Honey over ice."

Daryl just nodded in shock and headed to the bar. The woman may be small, but she apparently she didn't play when it came to drinking.

The bartender, a huge black man, yelled over. "Amber!"

"Hey! Dogg!" she yelled back. Daryl didn't miss that the man went ahead and grabbed the bottle for Amber's drink and had it poured and on the bar when he stepped up.

He found his way through the crowd with her drink and his bottle of beer and finally spotted her at one of the tables toward the back of the room on the same side as the bar. She was talking excitedly with a tall slim brunette while an Asian guy stood to the side.

"Daryl, come here! I want you to meet Maggie!" Amber waved him over, beaming.

Daryl set the drinks down and nodded to the girl while mentally panicking. He wasn't any good at this shit. Amber motioned for him to slide into the booth while the other couple sat on the other side. The asian guy looked about how Daryl felt. The women, on the other hand, hadn't stopped talking yet.

"So you're workin' for Mr. Dover?" Maggie asked after a few minutes of catching up with Amber. It sounded like they had went to school together. "I hear he's still killer on his crew."

Daryl shrugged "Old man kicks my ass in the shop ever mornin'" he took a long pull of his beer. Small talk was definately not his strong point.

"So, Amber," Maggie grew serious, "How are you doing after..."

Amber smiled "I'm fine Maggie. The divorce is final soon." He saw Maggie's eyes slide over to him in a silent question.

"No." Amber cautioned "Daryl's a friend who was kind enough to hang out with me tonight." He fought the urge to squirm in his seat. Amber must have realized his tension because she quickly changed the subject.

"Sooooo, I hear you have some news. Let me see it girl!"

Maggie squealed and held out her hand for Amber to check out her ring. "Glenn and I have set the date for the end of August!" Now that it was time for the other guy to squirm, Daryl relaxed a little as the women made over the ring. A young blond girl was testing out the mike on stage, warming up.

"Oh my God, Maggie, you didn't tell me Beth was singing here!"

"Yeah, Daddy's not happy about it, but she loves it!"

Maggie sat back a little and looked between the girl, who apparently was her sister, and Amber. A slow smile crossed her face then she stood and made her way to the stage. Amber groaned and turned to Glenn.

"What is she up to?"

The young guy threw up his hands, "No telling. You know how she is."

The music coming from the speakers died and the mike squealed for a second before the blond spoke.

"Okay, I've already got a request! This is for a friend who's come home, lookin' for a little fun after some hard times! This is for you, Miss Amber!"

The band lit into the music and Maggie bounded back to the table. Amber turned to Daryl. "I bet you don't dance do you?"

"Nope." _No way. No how._

Maggie was pulling on Glenn's arm but he shook his head and motioned across the table. "Uh uh, If he's not, then I'm not either."

Maggie let him go and turned to Amber. "I guess it's just you and me girl! C'mon!"

Amber grabbed her untouched glass of whiskey, downed it in one drink and slammed it on the table in front of a wide eyed Daryl.

"I'll be back!" she promised as Maggie drug her out on the dance floor.

As the two women started moving to Beth's version of the Dixie Chicks "Sin Wagon", Daryl wondered just what the hell he had gotten himself into.

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"That may be both the hottest and scariest thing I've ever seen."

Daryl found himself nodding in agreement with Glenn before he could stop himself. Amber and Maggie had ran back to the table just long enough after the first song to order their food and more drinks before returning to the dance floor. Now they were moving their bodies to "Gunpowder and Lead". Every time the lyrics "shook me like a rag doll" were sung the two woman would be back to back, their bodies jittering in a way that had Daryl finding somewhere else to look besides Amber's chest, while they bent their knees, dropping that ample ass of her's toward the floor. They made the song's lyrics about murder after domestic violence look like something to look forward to.

Daryl ran his hand over his face and looked over at Glenn. The poor guy was tilting his head a little, as if to get a better view of the show on the dance floor.

"Hey! Eyes on tha one ya brought!" Daryl growled, surprising himself just as much as the man across the table

Glenn jumped and then gave him a wide eyed look as he threw up his hands. "Whoa, man! No worries, all right? Maggie would hang my nuts around my neck if she even suspected I was looking at anyone else."

Daryl grunted, glad the waitress was making her way through the crowd with their food. He needed to get Amber off that dance floor, even though he wasn't exactly sure why. He threw his arm up when he caught her eye, motioning toward the food. She grabbed Maggie's hand and ran to the table, laughing as she slid into the seat next to him.

"Eat." he ordered, moving her refilled tumbler of Tennessee Honey away when she reached for it.

She huffed, "Daryl, you're not my babysitter!"

"Nope, I ain't. But ya get so drunk ya fall off that bike on the way home, yore Paw'll have my ass and my job. Now eat somethin'."

She stuck out her tongue but tucked into the ribs and fries she had ordered with gusto. Daryl paid attention to his own plate after he made sure she was getting something into her besides Jack Daniel's finest. The only conversation for the next few minutes was a few "Hand me the napkins." and a "Hey, stop it!" when Maggie decided Glenn's fries looked better than her own. Amber had been right, the barbeque there was pretty damn good. They were all so busy that they didn't notice the man walking up to their table until he leaned down in front of Amber.

"Hey, pretty thing! Haven't seen you in a while."

Amber looked up and squealed, throwing her arms around the guys neck. Daryl wiped his mouth and narrowed his eyes. He had the feeling he knew the man from somewhere but he couldn't place him.

"Shane! Let me introduce you to..."

"Dixon, isn't it?" Shane interrupted with a smirk. He didn't offer his hand, which was good because Daryl wasn't planning on shaking it if he did.

Amber glanced between the two men for a second. "You two know each other?"

Shane grinned slyly, "Yeah, I've had a run in with his brother." he turned back to Amber and took her hand. "Want to dance? I noticed no body else was man enough to go out there with you."

Amber looked back at Daryl nervously, biting her lip. He gave her a terse nod back. Not like they were together or anything. She had made it clear she just wanted to be friends, and he was just fine with that. Hell, he was glad.

None of that helped do away with the fire he felt burning in his chest as he watched Amber head out to the dance floor with Shane's arm looped low around her waist.


	8. Chapter 8

**Last update for the day! Yes, Shane's an asshole. He'll get whats coming, trust me. Review me baby!**

The band was on break but Daryl watched as Shane slipped the guy running the sound system a bill. The fucker was slick with his nice clothes, perfect hair, and smile. The beginning beat of the song filled the air and Shane wasted no time putting his hands on Amber's hips and pulling her against him as they moved with the beat, her arms around his neck. Daryl recognized the song, he had heard it coming from the radio in his truck before. The beat to Trace Adkins "This Ain't No Thinkin' Thing" screamed sex. Before the first chorus could start Shane turned Amber so her back was pressed against his front and he was practically rubbing himself all over her ass. Shane wasn't slick, Daryl decided.

The son of a bitch was a slime ball.

He heard a throat clear to his right and he turned with what he knew was a scowl. Glenn just raised an eyebrow and tipped his head toward the dance floor, his silent question obvious.

_You gonna do something about that?_

Daryl shrugged and leaned back against the wall, trying to act like he wasn't bothered. This wasn't a date and she wasn't his. Amber was an adult, she could fuck Shane out there if she wanted to. The only obligation he had was to get her home safely. He turned his attention to his cigarettes, pulling the ashtray to middle of the table, thankful the place was still technically a bar and so bypassed the no smoking laws. He had just lit up when the song ended and Amber returned to their table, Shane's hand on her back.

"Maggie," Amber giggled, her last glass of whiskey kicking in "Shane said he'd pay if we do shots like we used to."

Maggie looked back at Glenn and Daryl before following to one of the bar tables. After they got out of earshot Daryl looked up and asked "How they hell did they usta' do shots?"

Glenn shook his head, "No idea, man. But it doesn't sound good. Maggie's already half lit."

Daryl nodded, standing up and stubbing out his cigarette. "We best get over there then."

Glenn followed him, muttering "I'm so getting my ass kicked tonight."

A small crowd had already gathered around the table the girls were at. Daryl and Glenn elbowed their way to the front as the girls climbed on the barstools, kneeling on the seats instead of sitting. Shane was standing in front of them, filling the shot glasses from a bottle he had grabbed from the bar. After he finished he gave the girls a nod.

Maggie and Amber gave each other a big smile as each clasped her hands behind their back. They then bent over the tables, using their mouths to pick up the shot and then leaned up and tossed their heads back to take the drinks. Only they didn't exactly just lean, actually bucking up, letting their bodies follow in an undulation that had Amber's breasts straining against her top and giving a certain slime ball a perfect view down both girls' shirts. It would have probably been the sexiest thing Daryl had ever seen, if they weren't in a room half full of leering men and Shane refilling those damn glasses after they dropped back on the table. He vaguely heard a whispered, "Holy hell..." from Glenn at his right shoulder.

The women took a second shot, this time to applause from the crowd. Daryl made his way around the circle, silently sliding around behind Amber. Glenn made a fumbling attempt to follow, taking his place behind Maggie. That was how Daryl was able to see what Shane did.

After the second shot both girl's were wobbly on the stools, Shane stepped around to their side of the small bar table acting like he was cheering them on. His boot flashed out, so fast and low that only Daryl saw it. He pushed on the leg of the barstool to give Amber more leverage to fall. She started to lean and Shane reached out. But instead of grabbing her around the waist his hands went lower, to her ass and Daryl saw her back stiffen as she tried to pull away. That was all he needed. The second she wasn't willing he could step in like he had wanted to since that asshole had asked her to dance.

Daryl stepped up and had his arm around Amber's waist before Shane could register what was happening, picking her up off the bar stool and pushing her behind him. He growled between clenched teeth, body tensing.

"Don't believe the lady wants ya hands on her."

The crowd around them went dead silent, the band following close behind. Daryl fought the urge to wince, not from fear but the embarrassment of having this many eyes on him. He had been in enough bar fights with Merle to hold his own.

Shane grinned like an alligator. "She didn't mind my hands all over her while we were dancing. In fact she seemed to enjoy it. A whole lot better than drinking with a piece of white trash."

Daryl's fists clenched and he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. "Let's go Daryl! He wants you to fight, he's a cop. "

Realization lit up Daryl's brain. Officer Shane Walsh, the one who put Merle in the car the day they arrested him. That's where he knew him from.

He saw Glenn over Shane's right shoulder, a baseball bat appearing in his hand that had probably come from behind the bar. Dogg nodded in their direction and Daryl saw the stock of a shotgun in the man's huge hands before he slipped it back down behind the counter. It seemed the majority of the room was on his side, just in the split second he made those observations.

Shit was about to get bad for Officer Shane Walsh.

Daryl reached behind him with his right hand without breaking eye contact with the still sneering asshole, picking up the empty beer bottle from the table behind him. He turned it in his hand to grasp the neck with a practiced flip, preparing to use it to wipe that fucking smile off Shane's face, cop or not.

Amber must have realized what he was planning, because he felt her hand on the arm that held the bottle.

"No. You're not going to jail for me! Dammit, Daryl!" She stepped between them "Look at me!"

"Move." he hissed, trying to jerk his arm away but finally looked down when she stubbornly stood her ground. He expected to see anger or disgust in her eyes. But only concern showed in that gold flecked green as she pleaded with him.

"Let's just GO! It's my fault, I shouldn't have drank so much. You do this and I'll lose the first friend I've made in a long time!"

That's what brought him back from his mindless rage. Not fear of injury or jail, or even losing the best job he'd ever had, but that she didn't want to lose him or his friendship. This shocked Daryl on a level so deep he was dumbfounded for a second. He had somebody that valued him for more than a days worth of backbreaking labor or a quick drunk fuck in the cab of his truck.

"Get your ass out ta the bike. Now." He spoke low, not trusting his temper if he got any louder. The bottle dropped out of his hand back onto the table. Amber nodded and hesitated for a second. He jerked his head at the door.

"Go. I'm right behind ya."

Daryl waited until the the door shut behind her and closed the distance between him and Shane. It gave him a bump of satisfaction when he saw a tiny flinch when he got in his face.

"Ya fuckin' touch her again without her invitin ya, I'll go ta jail a happy man."

He didn't give him time to answer, just whirled around and followed her out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to all my kind reviewers. Your words honestly help guide the path this couple is going to take. I wish to dedicate this chapter to SOA loving mom (AKA Queen Kaye) since she had surgery this morning and I actually tweaked the end of this chapter to fulfill her request. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you recover.**

**Please review. This chapter took more out of me than any other in this story so I need to know if it worked or not. It will be the last update until tomorrow.**

The gravel crunched under his boots as Daryl stalked out to the bike. It was dark now and the only light was from the bar's neon sign, bathing everything in red and orange. Amber stood at the back of the parking place. Neither said anything until he had the bike out of the spot and cranked. He hesitated with his helmet in his hands as he felt her weight and then her warmth settle in behind him.

"Are ya okay ta hold on or do ya need ta get a ride home with them?" She knew he meant Glenn and Maggie from his tone.

"Daryl, I..."

"I said can you hold on!?" He raised his voice a little this time. He didn't want to upset her more but he was still pissed and didn't want to talk. All he wanted was to open up the throttle and lose himself for a little bit. Whether she sat behind him or not was up to her.

"I'm fine." Amber sighed, pulling on her helmet a second before he did.

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The road was falling away fast beneath them now. For the last hour Daryl had pushed the bikes limits, winding on back roads that he hadn't traveled in years. The tension slowly ebbed away with each yellow dash that rolled under him. Amber hadn't questioned, just held on tighter, moving her arms across his stomach to clasp her hands and scooting up until she was curled around him. He tried to ignore her warmth around his lower back and hips as her helmet lay between his shoulders. Why did she have to be so damn tiny? She hadn't weighed anything when he picked her up off that barstool. It made him want to protect her and that shit was weird. For his whole life he had been told all he could do was break and tear down, fight and kill shit. An hour ago he had been ready to go to jail, maybe kill a man just because he put his hands where she didn't want them.

One curve had been taken too fast and the bike wobbled underneath them. They moved in tandem without a word, adjusting their weight to reset the balance. Daryl kicked the idea that Amber rode with him like she had been born to out of his mind before it could take hold. This wasn't his bike and she wasn't his woman.

It was near midnight when Daryl finally turned toward the farm, he could smell rain and hear thunder in the distance. He did his best to glide past the big house, the last thing he needed was her Papaw asking why he was bringing her in drunk after midnight on the bike. The lights stayed off as they passed and he babied the Triumph over the dam that made the pond, going the longer way to avoid the garden gates.

Just as Daryl pulled them to a stop in front of the trailer the bottom fell out. Rain sheeted down and Amber's hand waved past his head, motioning him up under the metal carport. He slid in and she jumped off, removing her helmet. Her hair was wild now, blowing in the summer thunderstorm. Daryl nodded and looked over his shoulder to back out but Amber shook her head. He took off his helmet and shut off the bike.

"What?"

"You can't ride home with it like this!" Amber motioned out at the rain. She was right, he was already soaked, and with the two feet of visibility would probably skid out on the slick red mud of the dam now that it was dumping buckets.

"Fuck!" he thumped his knuckles on the handlebars and took a deep breath.

"Come on." Amber took two steps and then looked back since he hadn't moved. "Daryl, friends don't let friends have wrecks in the rain. Just come in until it slacks."

Daryl followed her into the trailer after grabbing the extra set of clean clothes Merle kept in the saddle bags. His brother's habit of staying over at women's houses unexpectedly was helpful for the first time in his life.

Amber was coming out of what must have been the bathroom when he stepped in. She threw him a towel as he toed off his boots and shrugged out of the vest. He dried his hair and face and then looked down to find her hand out in front of him.

"Shirt?"

Daryl's eyes narrowed. She was expecting him to take off his shirt in front of her, probably to throw it in the dryer. The shame hit him like a sledgehammer. One more part of his life that could never be normal.

He just shook his head, avoiding her eyes as he grabbed the extra clothes. Amber didn't give him a hard time like he expected, just shrugged and pointed back the way she had come from.

"Bathrooms back there. Dryer's in the closet just inside." She took her own towel to her hair as she walked down the short hall and into her bedroom, shutting the door to change.

He headed into the tiny mobile home bathroom, changing quickly into the black wife beater and jeans. The jeans were a little big but not too bad, his belt remedied that. Daryl decided to forgo the underwear, the thought of wearing Merle's boxers, washed or not, gave him a case of the heebie jeebies. It had only been a year since his brother's last case of the 'clap'.

Amber was standing behind the bar that separated the kitchenette from the living room when he left the bathroom. Several bottles sat on the counter in front of her, along with two short glasses. She was grinning when he stopped at the other side of the bar, arms crossed over his chest.

"Don't ya think ya've drunk enough?"

She shrugged "Maybe. But it's rude to invite a man in and not offer him a drink. You didn't have but one beer tonight."

"Gettin arrested for DUI ain't my thang."

"You were about to get arrested for assaulting an officer. Apparently fighting is your 'thang' huh?"

Now it was his turn to shrug. "Mostly."

"Well, you did it for my honor, so the least I could do is offer you a drink."

"I'm fine." No way was he going to get drunk here, in her place. When he drank his mouth got loose, along with other parts of his body. He wasn't going to risk ruining a good thing twice in one night.

Amber propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at the ceiling as if pondering a deep thought. "Well, the way I look at it, you have two options. Either you drink or, since you took me out and didn't take me out on the dance floor, I put on a slow song and you can dance with a friend."

"How about I walk home?"

Amber tilted her head to the front windows where the rain was running down like a river. "Suit yourself, I hope you can swim though. That dam floods when it rains like this."

Daryl's eyes shifted between the windows, the bottles, and Amber still propped up on the counter with her expectant grin.

"Southern Comfort."

Amber wiggled a finger at him in a "you sly dog" motion and poured his drink, and then her own. She stepped around the counter and Daryl forgot to breathe. For a second, it looked like all she was wearing was a huge t-shirt with nothing else. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her legs before. He had spent the better part of a week trying to keep his eyes off of them as she worked in shorts. But none of them had been this short, evidenced by the tan line that was a couple inches below the hem of the shirt.

Amber sat on the couch behind him and he finally caught a glimpse of what looked like some pink (fuckin' course, everything she owned was that damn soft pink, it seemed) sleep shorts. Daryl was able to breath a little easier then. At least she had something on. But that tan line was still damn distracting, the skin above it looking so soft and white that his hands suddenly itched. He grabbed his drink and sank down on the opposite end of the couch, leaning on the arm and away from her. One drink, that was it and he was done. No more. And he was going to keep his eyes off her legs, then get the hell home.

Amber scooted a little closer, turning toward him. "So if we're gonna be friends, we need to know more about one another. What did you do before you came here?"

Daryl swallowed the Southern Comfort, the burn extending down his throat and to his stomach as he focused on the rain sheeted windows in front of them.

He should have taken his chances and swam.

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"So, let me get this right, you helped your brother run 'shine in that truck of yours?"

The liquor bottle sat between them now, tucked upright between the two cushions they sat on. He didn't have to look to know it was almost empty now.

"Paid the bills, some of'em at least." Daryl could feel the alcohol winding it's way into his brain even as he tried to fight it off. He was feeling good, the tension falling away like it had on the bike. Amber was much closer now, but still on her side. He had relaxed as he drank, turning toward her with an arm resting across the back of the couch. His fingers were only inches from a strand of her hair that had found its way onto the gaudy print cushions. Those traitorous fingers kept inching closer, wanting to twist that hair among theirselves as he and Amber talked (well, mostly she talked). His brain kept having to call them back to rest where he had put them.

Daryl watched her face, looking for a sign that she regretted getting this close to a man who had resorted to being a dirty moonshine runner just to keep the lights and water on. She just chuckled and asked, "So why did you stop? It sounds exciting!"

He laughed bitterly. "Hidin' from cops ain't fun. It's fuckin stressful." He snorted, struck with the sudden hilarity of his statement, like he was describing a particularly hard day at the office. He wasn't so drunk that he was going to share the real reason he had stopped though. Merle had started hiding meth in the liquor shipments and that's where Daryl had drawn the line, for himself anyway.

"Nuff bought me. Your turn." Daryl nodded in her direction, trying to keep his tenuous connection to the filter between his brain and mouth.

Amber smiled. "Sorry. I'm kinda boring. No smuggling or anything fun like you."

"What happened b'tween you and yer old man?" Daryl kicked himself mentally the second the words left his mouth. Fuckin' liquor. He didn't miss the sad look that crossed her face for a second and hated himself for causing it."S'rry, ya ain't gotta..."

"It's okay," she waved a hand dismissively, "Half the town knows anyway. He kind of decided I wasn't really his type."

Daryl just sat silently, what the hell did that mean? He couldn't figure that shit out before he married her? His face must have shown his confusion because she went on. "I came home early one day and caught him in bed with a co-worker." Daryl lost his train of thought a little then, a strange feeling in his chest. He missed the next thing she said.

"Huh?"

Amber was looking down in the bottom of her glass, swirling the liquid. She spoke low, almost a whisper, repeating herself.

"He was with a man."

"Oh." Daryl didn't know what else to say then, suddenly sobering up a level or two. He certainly hadn't been expecting that.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Amber studying her drink as he stared out the window. The storm wasn't letting up and it was now two a.m. according to the clock that sat on the end table at his elbow. He finally cleared his throat, the sound loud in the little living room.

"I need ta go. Ya need ta get in the bed."

"Stay."

Daryl's head snapped up and met her eyes with his own. He started to say no but she cut him of, her hands up in a placating gesture. "On the couch, Daryl. The dam is probably flooded out. And I...I really don't want to be alone here tonight."

There it was, that waver in her voice during her last sentence. She was ashamed of her own weakness and that was one thing he knew well. Daryl scrubbed a hand over his face, knowing it was a bad idea. It was a FUCKIN HORRIBLE idea and there was no way he should sleep on her couch.

"A'ight. But ya need ta go ta bed."

Amber nodded and relaxed visibly. She rose and padded to her bedroom, coming back a few minutes later with a pillow and a blanket. She set them on the arm of the couch and stood in front of him until he looked up.

"Will you do one more thing for me?"

My God, why did he look up? What did she want now? Had he not made enough bad decisions tonight?

"Prob'ly not."

The edges of her eyes were red, the skin under them taught. She had cried while out of the room. And it was his damn fault, bringing up her ex like he did. He was fucking up this friend thing, fast.

"Dance with me. Just one. I...can't go to sleep with all this bad stuff in my head."

"Thought I didn't have to if I drank."

"I'm being serious." Amber shook her head "Nevermind...I'm sorry." She turned, heading to her room.

He had screwed it up. Just like always. She was going to go in there and cry herself to sleep because he was an asshole. And he knew how hard it was to sleep with the bad images of a painful past running through your mind. Then he saw his hand flash out and wrap around her wrist. She stopped and turned back and Daryl knew it would be the alcohol speaking, but he didn't care. He just had to fix this, fix what he had done before she laid down. A song lasts what? Three minutes? He had taken beatings that were ten times that long.

"I can't."

Amber smiled weakly. "All you have to do is stand there."

Daryl nodded once and let her go. She grabbed her Mp3 player from the counter and plugged it into the speakers. He didn't even look up when he spoke.

"Somethin' old. Not any of that new shit they were playing tonight." Maybe if he stayed with classics he could avoid anything that talked about sex, or love or anything else that would demand anymore of him.

She made a little happy noise and settled the player down on the cradle of the device. A familiar piano riff filled the air and he grinned in spite of the churning in his gut as she stepped forward and put her hand out. He surprised himself by taking it easily, and blamed it on the alcohol.

"I ain't no cowboy." he muttered.

Amber drew his hands to her waist. He only let them settle lightly, barely feeling the fabric of her shirt under his fingertips. She placed her hands on Daryl's shoulder's but frowned. The height difference made this way wrong somehow. He felt her push his hands up until his arms were wrapped around her shoulders, hands tentatively ghosting over her hair as it tumbled down her upper back. Amber snaked her own around his waist and stepped forward and he fought the flinch so FUCKIN HARD when he felt her head lay on his chest. It was still there though, but Amber didn't pull back, just gave him a second to adjust like she had been expecting it.

She finally answered him, her words vibrating against the outside of his chest as his heart tried to hammer it's way from the inside.

"And I'm not the Queen of Diamonds."

_Desperado, why don't you come to your senses_

_You've been out riding fences for so long now_

_Oh, your a hard one, but you've got your reasons..._

Amber started moving, just a slow sway, not even picking her feet up. Daryl tried to match it, knowing he was doing a horrible job even though she didn't complain or try to correct him. He settled on letting her lead them, settling his hands on her upper back, fingers splayed across her jet waves. It was even softer than he had hoped and he fought not to tangle his fingers in it,as every other part of him fought to get closer to her, pull her into him.

_Don't you draw the Queen of Diamonds boy, she'll beat you if she's able, the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet..._

Amber smelled like rain. He knew it just wasn't because of that night's storm. Earlier in the week, even after sweating along side him in the garden, she had stood close a couple times and he had smelled water. The clear, clean, fast moving kind like when he stumbled across a stream tumbling across well worn rocks while hunting deep in the woods. That smell, perfect and crystal clear reminded Daryl of the only times he had ever felt above the filth and pain of his past.

_Now it seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table..._

A week ago, if someone had told him he would have a good job, doing shit he loved, a decent place to live, and that he would be standing here in this trailer with a woman who smelled like fuckin' RAIN in his arms he would have laughed at them, not because it would have been funny but because it would have been a damn JOKE. Men like him didn't get things like this.

._And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin_

_Your prison is walking through this world all alone._

How long had he been alone? Since he had been born? Maybe since Mama burned up? Merle was blood, but even with him he was alone. Just cleaning up his brother's messes because they were blood.

_Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?_

_Come down from your fences, and open the gate_

_It may be rainin, but there's a rainbow above you._

_You better let somebody love you, before it's too late._

And just like that, it was over. Those three minutes that had seemed too long before were suddenly so short, leaving him unsatisfied.

Daryl felt Amber press her lips to his heart for just a second, simply because she couldn't reach his cheek without him bending. Then a whispered "Thank you." and she was gone, quiet footsteps heading to her bedroom.

Amber flipped the lights off as she left the room and Daryl was left in the dark, standing stock still where she left him illuminated only by the flashes of lightning. His fingers pressed over the spot where her kiss still burned his chest and he couldn't tell if he was trying to rub it away or rub it in.

The storm outside was nothing compared to the one that pummeled him within.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all for reviewing, that last chapter did me in! Whew, the feels. Now for a wee bit of smut and some action. Cause it can't be all kisses and slow dances (even though, with Daryl, we all wish it could) I'm kinda proud of the premise of this chapter.**

_The side of the couch dipped down at his hip and then he smelled rain._

_It was her._

_Amber had come to him in the night and he knew what she wanted. Daryl slid his hands to her hips, picking her up to straddle his own even before his eyes opened. She was smirking down at him, the glaze of liquor gone from her eyes. Only want and a bit of mischief shown there now. _

_"Ain't ya sposed ta be in bed?" he heard his own voice, full of sleep._

_"Yeah, but I thought of a few things more fun..." she breathed before burying her head in his neck, her lips and tongue sliding over his skin. His hands moved up under that shirt of hers and this time those shorts were gone. Only a tiny pair of panties with strings over her hips separated them. He just had to flex his forearms once and those strings popped and he threw the scrap of satin to the side. _

_She must have already been working at his belt because he felt cold air and then her warm hand surround him. "Already?" he laughed, "damn, woman, slow down..."_

_"I can't. I need you Daryl..." Amber breathed in his ear._

_She sank down on him and she felt like heaven._

"Fuckin HELL!" Daryl hissed. The fading spasms in his groin told him enough, before he looked down or felt the shameful wet. He breathed deep for a few seconds, fighting the urge to put his fist through the window behind the couch. Thirty four fuckin years old and having a damn wet dream like a twelve year old while laid up on a woman's couch.

The pre-dawn light was thin and he made his way to the bathroom silently, praying she wouldn't wake up before he got into the shower. He caught a glimpse of Amber through the open bedroom door as he slipped into the bathroom. She was just a bundle of rolled up covers with black hair spilling out the top. The only skin exposed was a slim ankle and foot.

Daryl stripped while the water heated and then scrubbed with a washcloth he found in the linen closet, under water as hot as he could get it. The shame just grew as he stood there in the steam, letting the scalding sting work over his skin. Amber had needed him last night and he had done the best he could. He had protected her at that bar and made sure she got home safe. Then she had opened up to him, made herself vulnerable, something he was too weak to do. He had kept his hands to himself, and been what she had needed, or so he thought. And then what did he do? Have a damn wet dream about her in her living room. It didn't matter how hard he tried. He was going to fuck this up, and lose everything.

Daryl waited until the water began to cool before turning it off to step out and dry off. He dressed in his jeans from the night before, after snatching them from the dryer and decided to wait a second on the shirt to put the dirty ones in the wash. No way would he risk her finding them.

Daryl was just about to slip the black tee over his head when he heard it. The dry buzz was a sound he had heard many times before in the woods, and he instinctively froze and checked the floor around his feet before realizing it was coming from outside the bathroom. The shirt fell from his hands and he was through the door without thinking. He stopped for a second in the hall to let his hunter's senses zero in.

Her bedroom.

Daryl stepped up to her door and immediately saw all he needed to see. His heart dropped into his stomach even as his mind raced. Then he turned and headed toward the front door, drawing on every bit of skill he had to be silent and fast.

He had to get out to the bike and get what he needed before Amber woke up, before she even rolled over in her sleep. His bow was at home so he could only hope Merle had been paranoid as usual the last time he loaded up those saddlebags.

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_Daryl was standing at the side of the bed shirtless. She didn't even startle when she opened her eyes and saw him there. He had come to her and she knew what he wanted. Hell, in this moment, she knew what she wanted. _

_He nodded at her and she understood and scooted over. Wasn't that always how it was with him? He didn't talk much but you could decode the grunts, nods, and head jerks if you really wanted to. Even the nail biting and the flinches, it was a language all his own. He slid into the bed next to her, looking for all the world like he belonged there, it felt as natural as cooking in her grandmothers kitchen. Being here next to him was home._

_Amber looked down and laughed because Daryl had left his jeans on and his belt fastened. How did he know about that thing she had for shirtless men wearing jeans with leather belts? She was sure she hadn't told him._

_Daryl rolled over her and kissed her, slowly and deeply, at odds with his shyness when they had danced. Hands crept up around her waist, sliding off her shirt. He pulled back and smirked when he realized she was bare underneath. Then his teeth and tongue were on the skin of her throat and she whimpered. Her legs bent and opened to cradle him and she felt his hand slip over her ankle, probably to adjust her position. _

_"Hold on there, Desperado," she laughed, "don't you think you need out of those jeans first?" Something wasn't right about his hand though, it was too cool and the skin was too smooth. Daryl put off heat like a furnace and his hands were calloused from all the work he did. He brought his lips to her ear and whispered._

_"Listen. Just...listen..."_

_The moment she heard it she wasn't with Daryl anymore. She was with Papaw in the blackberry patch and it was so hot as the bees and wasps ignored them for the ripe fruit. Papaw was standing to her right, his Panama hat shading his face as that sound droned on above everything else. She wasn't afraid. He had told her she didn't have to be afraid._

_"It's a warning, girl. It's why God made'm like that, to keep us safe." he said, looking out over the blackberry bushes._

_She smelled the smoke of a gun, knowing that somehow it went with that sound and she couldn't quite make the connection. All she had to remember was what he taught her that day. It was a warning._

_"Before you look around you, girl, before you do anything else, remember..."_

"Don't. Move."

Daryl whispered from the doorway, his voice sounding strained, dragging her through the last light layers of sleep.

"Daryl..." she whimpered quietly into her pillow, now knowing what shared her bed. The problem with having a house in the woods, is that sometimes you get a little bit of the woods in your house.

"It's gonna be alright. Just don't fuckin' move. Can ya feel it?"

Amber started to nod and stopped herself before making that mistake. Her mind was already going in a million different directions, trying to answer him while calculating the time it would take for him to get her to the hospital versus calling an ambulance. She was practical like that.

"Yes. My right ankle."

"A'ight. It ain't looped around, just layin' over. Listen to me 'kay?" He didn't wait for her to respond. "Slide your left hand across the nightstand towards me. Slow."

She started to move and heard his breath hitch."SLOW I said!", he whispered desperately and she cut her speed in half, feeling every ridge of the wood grain as it slid under her fingertips.

"I'm gonna count ta three, and on three I'm gonna jerk you over here. Don't tense up, ya hear?"

"'kay" she whispered, face still buried in the pillow. She wanted to ask what he was going to do after he pulled her over to him but then she heard the click of a safety being taken off. She didn't know why he had the gun, but found herself thanking God he did.

"One."

Amber struggled to relax her legs, knowing to disobey Daryl's direction could cost her dearly.

"Two."

Then she was flying across the small space, an iron band around her wrist and an explosion rocking her eardrums.

**Reviewers get a dream about Daryl and a rattlesnake free bed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I was going to call this a filler chapter but then changed my mind. We get some freaked out Daryl, freaked out Amber and then some fluffy sweetness. So lets call it character development. **

**You know what to do. Review me baby!**

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THREE?!"

Amber was leaning against the paneling screaming with her eyes squeezed shut and hands balled into fists at her side.

Daryl had pushed her against the wall and tucked the gun in the back of his pants as soon as her feet hit the floor next to his and he saw that the snake was in two pieces, bleeding out onto the quilt. He now knelt in front of her stiff body, running his hands over her feet and legs, looking for any wound, anything, even a damn scratch to signal that she had been bitten. He was having his own one sided conversation as he inspected each limb, yelling up at her as his head moved between her bottom half and her face above him.

"ARE YOU BIT? DID YOU FEEL ANYTHING? ARE YOU FUCKIN' BIT?!"

He finally realized he wasn't getting through her hysterics and grabbed her hips over her nightshirt and shook her, not too roughly but enough to pop her ass against the paneling behind her and get her attention.

"DAMMIT, AMBER! SHUT THE HELL UP AND LOOK AT ME! WAS. YOU. BIT.!?"

She did shut up then and looked down with wide eyes and her chin quivering, breath jerking out of her chest in ragged sobs. A few seconds later she finally spoke coherently, though it was wavering and almost a whisper.

"I...I didn't feel anything...don't think so...oh, God...Daryl..."

Then her face scrunched up and Daryl knew he was fucked. He would have rather fought that rattlesnake bare handed than have to deal with a bawlin' woman. Especially a bawlin' woman he had been dreaming was riding him less than an hour ago.

"Aw, shit."

He jumped to his feet and she launched herself at him before he could stop her. Daryl winced but caught himself before his body jerked away. Momentary panic set in.

What the hell was he supposed to do now? The woman had woken up to the biggest damn rattlesnake he had seen in years in her bed, basically wrapped around her ankle. And then he had jerked her across that bedroom, shot a hole in the bed, and had shook and cussed her when she freaked out. Amber should have slapped the hell out of him and ordered him out. Instead, she had grabbed him like he was the best thing on earth and was holding on like she was afraid he would run away.

Even as Daryl panicked about his own actions, it seemed that his body and voice had found minds of their own, like they always did around her. Except this time he was stone cold sober.

Daryl slowly came to the realization that his arms were wrapped around her. He and Amber were standing in the same position they had while dancing last night, except her back was almost against the wall. He was basically trapping her against it and there was no way he could move her without picking her up because she was now sobbing into him, totally lost in her own world. Seemingly of their own accord, his hands were rubbing her back awkwardly. And Daryl could hear somebody talking. It wasn't her because she was crying and it wasn't him because he sure as hell didn't say shit like that.

"shhhh...hush now...I'm sorry I said that shit, a'ight? Just fuckin' scared me...thought ya was bit..."

Okay, maybe it was him but he wouldn't ever admit it without a witness. Amber shook her head against him and he could feel tears (at least he hoped it was tears, because snot would add a whole new level of awkward to this mess) soak into his bare chest and...

His Bare Chest.

Fuck NO!

Every muscle in Daryl's body tightened at the same time, cold fear and hot shame settling deep. One of his hands left her back and launched at the wall behind her. He was able to pull it at the last minute and only made a hollow thump instead of breaking through the cheap paneling as intended. He leaned into it, breathing deep, trying to make sense of what Amber was saying and not wanting to hear it at the same time. His chest wasn't as bad as his back but it was enough. She was nose to damaged skin with his past and now the questions would start, he would see the fucking pity and it would destroy him again.

"No...it's not you...it just scared the hell out of me *sniff* if you hadn't been here...you've saved me twice in like twelve hours and I'm being such a damn baby...*sob*"

Huh?

Surely, she was trying to be nice and act like she hadn't seen the scars. He would be able to know if he saw her face. Half a life spent getting the shit beat out of him had made him an excellent judge of the emotions on people's faces.

He gripped her shoulder and pulled her back so her back touched the wall. Amber was looking everywhere but his eyes. Daryl waited her out though, and she finally turned her wet and puffy face to his. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and his heart clenched simultaneously. No disgust, no pity. Just her own shame, shock, and the shaking of spent adrenalin. Even after crying she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. Her skin was tan, but not that fake shit. It was the real color of days spent working in the dirt and tiny freckles dotted her nose. Her hair sleep crazy and his hands wanted to find it again so bad. Those same hands had been running all over her legs just a few minutes ago. Daryl had been too full of fear then to process it, but now the memory of that skin under his fingers was making the tips of his ears burn as he knew the blush was creeping up his cheeks.

Daryl was drug from those thoughts when her face suddenly changed before him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it at first, but then her eyes got wide and panicked and it hit him. That tan had paled to a gray-green color and he had spent enough mornings hungover to know what that meant. He did pick her up then, just enough to spin around and plant her in the bathroom in front of the toilet on wobbling legs and step back as she fell to her knees and lost what remained in her stomach from the night before.

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Daryl now sat on the bathroom counter next to the sink. As soon as he had set Amber down he snatched his shirt from the floor and pulled it over his head, the concealing fabric a relief. Honestly, her condition was a bit of a relief too. He might have been scared shitless when she started crying, but hungover puking he knew how to handle. Between his own younger indiscretions (well, okay, not that much younger, he had developed a tolerance too) and the fact that Merle turned into a complete pussy when he was hungover, Daryl almost had this down to a science. The only thing he had a problem with was the hair.

After only a few seconds, it had been obvious some of her hair was going to catch the brunt of it. For some reason, the thought of that upset him a little and Daryl had looked around until he spotted one of those bands he had seen her use before on the counter. Amber hadn't even stopped what she was doing (maybe she couldn't) when she felt him lift the waves from around her face and back and wind the elastic around it so it was contained away from the mess. He wasn't exactly sure he had done it right and hoped she wouldn't have to cut it out later. The fact that he cared about that was a little weird in and of itself.

Then he had just grabbed a washcloth from the closet and hitched himself up on the counter to wait. That had been almost ten minutes ago. Now, her stomach appeared to slow down, reduced to dry heaves. He winced at that, those always seemed to be the worst part somehow, but wet the cloth with cold water and held it out when she looked up with bloodshot eyes and a grimace. She took it, wiped her face down and then he had plucked it back out of her hands, rinsed and wet it again. He handed it back and went to motion to the floor but she was already headed there. Apparently the cold bathroom floor felt like heaven to everyone when they were sick. She settled down on her back with the cloth over her eyes and he hopped down off the counter and left the room with a quiet "Back in a minute."

The clean up in her bedroom was first. He had made that mess. The snake was huge and he hated to lose the skin or the meat but he was sure her stomach wouldn't tolerate either one of those things and he was going to be stuck here for the rest of the morning at least, they wouldn't last that long without being cooled. Amber would give him hell later if she found it in her fridge. Daryl ended up taking it into the woods back behind her place. That way it would end up feeding something out there and this acreage was a hunter's dream. Her Paw had told him he would have the run of the ninety acres as soon as something came into season and his trigger finger practically twitched at the prospect.

Daryl had just bagged up the quilt and set it in the corner. He was pretty sure it couldn't be salvaged but it looked old so he would let Amber make that call. Sheets went in the trash. He started checking out the bed. The bullet had went through the mattress clean, she would still be able to sleep on it if the small blood stain came out. The bullet itself was imbedded in the metal frame and he dug it out with his knife and pocketed it absentmindedly.

Now that the bedroom was free of dead critters, he turned his attention back to the woman in the bathroom floor. She lay in the same position he had left her.

"Ya ready for breakfast yet?"

She lifted the rag from her eyes just a bit and squinted out from under it weakly. "You're gonna have to give me a bit. I don't feel like cooking just yet." Daryl detected a bit of her own venom in her voice and bit the inside of his cheek to hold back his laugh.

"Hell, woman, I wasn't askin' ya ta cook. Just if ya was ready ta eat."

"You cook?"

"Made it thirty four years before I started stuffin' my face up at yer Maw's."

"Eh, make whatever you want. Just coffee for me."

"Nope. Ya gotta eat."

"I'll puke again."

"Not if ya eat the right stuff. I've had a few hangovers myself."

"You don't say?" the venom had disappeared, replaced with it's close cousin sarcasm.

He did chuckle this time and just headed to the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

**This is one of those chapters that grabbed my hand and said 'Run'. Thanks to zenofbeingmommy for posting the 'Scud' smoke trick gif on Tumblr from a deleted Blade II scene. It both inspired the end of this chapter and exploded my vagina.**

"It ain't as good as yore biscuits, but it should settle ya stomach."

Daryl set the plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast on the bar in front of Amber and then moved to fix his own plate. She eyed the food skeptically as her stomach churned.

Her plate was still untouched when he sat in front her on the other side of the bar. She had her fork in hand but just couldn't bring it to pick up the yellow stuff.

"It ain't gonna kill ya." he growled then started shoveling in his own breakfast.

"It's not your cooking." Amber explained. "I just usually live on coffee for a day after drinking."

"That's why ya stay sick. Ya need eggs, and somethin' with fat like bacon."

Amber took a tentative bite and chewed slowly. The eggs were good, it's just her stomach was still rolling. But she started to feel better after a few bites. Daryl was almost finished with his plate when she looked up.

"How did you find your hangover cure, Dr. Dixon?" she asked with a smirk.

He shrugged. "Just figured it out, I guess. Got tired a'pukin all day."

Amber took a drink of her coffee and grimaced. "This cure of yours doesn't include me taking my coffee black, does it?"

Daryl shook his head and she headed for the fridge, bringing back a container of hazelnut coffee creamer. She poured a generous amount into her coffee and then added several heaping tablespoons of sugar. Groaning in pleasure, she downed half the cup in one gulp, already feeling much better.

Daryl shook his head and frowned.

"Pussy."

Amber smirked back. "Yes, I have one."

Daryl blushed furiously and she went on. "Go ahead, call me a smart ass. I have a comeback for that too." She loved making him flustered like that, it made him look like an embarrassed little boy, so at odds with the roughness he exhibited most the time.

Amber gave Daryl a few minutes to compose himself and finish his breakfast as she drank the rest of her coffee. When he finally sat back she automatically grabbed the dirty dishes and set them in the sink. Housekeeping wasn't high on her priorities so they could soak for the minute. When she turned, Daryl was propped on the counter, gnawing that damn thumbnail. She didn't say anything, just grabbed the ashtray her mom had stashed under the counter for when she visited and set it in front of him. He smirked and grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from his vest that still lay on the boots by the door. She settled back on her barstool opposite him. It felt so damn natural, it unnerved her a little. They had known each other for just a week.

When Daryl had lit up, she leaned forward a little and asked, "So what did you do with the snake?"

"Took it out back."

"Ah. Too bad. That would have been a lot of meat and that skin would have been pretty tacked up."

Daryl stopped with his cigarette halfway to his mouth. "Are you shittin' me?"

"Well, no. You shot it right behind the head. I mean...it wouldn't have been the whole skin but..." Amber hesitated and grinned. "How long ago did you take it out?"

"Bout an hour. Little more." His eyes slid over to the door.

"Well the meat's lost. But the skin..." Amber stopped there, she didn't have to go any further. Daryl was already going to slip his boots back on.

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She had went ahead and changed and put her hair up while Daryl was out back. Deciding on some cut offs and a plain purple tank was easy, it was Saturday and she had no plans. The bra issue was another matter. It was so freaking hot and this was her house. But Daryl was here and she didn't want to give the man a heart attack, just friends or not. It wasn't like she was slim like Maggie and could get away with it anyway. So bra it was. The 'ladies' needed to be kept under control.

Peeking out her bedroom blinds, she could see Daryl had settled on the porch steps with the body of the snake, cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth. He must have visited the burn pile out back too because a rough board, about five feet in length was propped up next to him. Daryl must have gutted the carcass in the woods because he was now working the skin away from the muscle carefully, using the buck knife he always wore on his belt.

Amber felt a little wrong watching him like this, but he was so deep in concentration, tongue occasionally gripped in his front teeth as he worked. She also had a perfect view of how the muscles in his shoulders bunched and moved as he hunched over the snake in his hands. Occasionally a part of the skin would be difficult to remove with his knife and he would put it to the side, choosing to use his finger tips and nails to separate the delicate tissues. Watching his broad rough hands work so meticulously was doing funny things to her guts, and not the same way last nights binge had.

"Ya could see what I'm doin' better if ya came out here."

The observant asshole didn't even look up when he said it, just loud enough to be heard where she stood. The blinds dropped down and she headed out, her own face now red. She had earned that one though, he was getting her back for the 'pussy' remark earlier. She grabbed a small box from the junk drawer in the kitchen before she went out.

The steps were small so Amber perched on one above him, sitting sideways with her legs stretched out so she could see. The little box of flat silver thumbtacks were set on the step next to him.

"Will those work?"

A grunt. A nod. _They'll do._

His cigarette was finished and he flicked the butt into the bushes at the side of the porch, returning back to his work.

"You want another one?"

A shrug of the shoulders. _Whatever_.

Amber sighed and rolled her eyes as she got up to grab a cigarette and his lighter. She sat again and started to hand them to him and stopped short. Daryl's hands were covered in blood. She chewed her lip for a minute then stuck the cigarette in her own mouth and lit it. Smoking just enough in high school to look cool, she was able to inhale once and hold off a cough. Amber then dangled it in front of Daryl's mouth. He turned and cocked an eyebrow at her, hands momentarily still.

"I don't have cooties!" she huffed, "I've brushed my teeth three times since...my episode in the bathroom. And your hands are covered in snake guts."

He snorted and then leaned over, careful not to touch her fingers at the base of the filter with his lips as he took it. Amber frowned a little, why did that disappoint her?

Now the board was laid across his lap and she leaned over his shoulder to watch. She could smell him and it was hard to concentrate on what his hands were doing. The scent was a mix of the Ivory soap that was in her shower, smoke, and leather. It was utterly masculine and she had never encountered anything like it.

Daryl worked efficiently and soon almost the whole length of the board was taken up by the skin. Then he pulled a little piece of metal from his pocket and held it up against the board above the skin and started marking the spot with his knife.

"What is that?"

Daryl held the bullet up in front of her nose at his shoulder and she grinned.

"Little proud are we?"

He ducked his head and she knew she had embarrassed him.

"I think it's cool. Different. I've never seen one with the bullet that killed it."

Nod. _ I agree_.

Daryl smoothed the indention out with his knife. Amber leaned forward to get a closer look and her breasts brushed his back.

"Motherfucker!"

She jerked back but it was too late. A bead of fresh blood bloomed on Daryl's thumb from the slip of his knife. He went to put it in his mouth without thinking.

"Sweet Jesus no!" Amber's hand shot out from over his shoulder and grabbed his wrist. His arm jerked, the sudden movement setting off his reflexes. She just waited it out before she spoke again.

"Shit, I'm sorry. It's my fault, I startled you. Let me get something to clean it up."

"S'alright. Don't need nothin."

"At least let me clean it up. Hold on! And don't put it in your mouth!"

Amber realized her hand was stilled wrapped around his wrist and quickly withdrew it to run into the house to grab a clean cloth and wet it. When she returned, she motioned for his hand, but he just grabbed the cloth and wiped it down, holding it up so she could see the bleeding had stopped before handing the rag back and turning back to the snakeskin.

"Bout done anyway."

The bullet fit into the indention perfectly, tightly enough to be held without any kind of adhesive. Daryl held it out at arms length and cocked his head to the side.

_What do you think?_

Amber pondered it for a minute. "It looks great, but its missing something.

Daryl nodded and set the board back in his lap. Soon one corner had the date carved in it. He started on the another corner, getting as far as the letters "A" and "m" before she realized what he was doing.

"Not mine! You're the one that killed it! It's yours!"

He started on the "b". "You was the one cuddled up with it."

She shuddered. "Please don't remind me."

Daryl chuckled.

"I'm serious. Put your name on there."

"A'ight! Gimme a minute!"

Her name was now finished and he dropped down the corner below hers. The "D" was done a minute later and then Daryl stopped for a minute. He looked at the board and the up at her mischievously. He then turned sideways on the step opposite of how Amber was facing so she couldn't see him work. She tried to follow but he held his hand up and pointed at her.

_Nope. Don't move._

She huffed but sat, intrigued with the intensity of his face as he worked. Shortly, Daryl made the last cut and sighed.

"Don't laugh, a'ight?"

"Why would I laugh at your name?"

He didn't answer, just turned the board to face her as he looked shyly at her from under his too long hair.

She held back the surprised laugh but just barely, ending up grinning like an idiot when she saw the name carved below hers.

Desperado.

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Amber had exclaimed over the workmanship of the snakeskin hanging until it became obvious Daryl was getting uncomfortable. She reigned in her enthusiasm then, realizing he wasn't used to getting praise and in fact, seemed new to this friends thing. She wondered if he had many good friends in his life and the probable answer made her sad. It was such a weird thing, his body and mind being a man, but somewhere under all that roughness he was emotionally a little boy.

The board was now propped up on the screened in porch so the flies couldn't get to it while it dried. They sat side by side on the step now, Amber with a mason jar of sweet tea in her hands while Daryl's sat on the step above as he finished the cigarette she had lit for him. Daryl was the first person that Amber had met that she could sit comfortably in silence with, just being.

He blew two perfect smoke rings as she watched amazed.

"Do it again."

He obliged and smirked as they floated away and dissolved into nothing.

"Can you do any others?"

"Other what?"

"Smoke tricks."

He eyed her for a minute. "It's kinda nasty."

"Daryl, I just watched you skin an animal that you basically blew up in my bed this morning."

"A'ight but don't say I didn't warn ya. Saw this once in some shitty vampire movie and worked on it till I could do it."

Amber nodded excitedly and made a 'get to it' motion.

Daryl took a long drag off the last of the cigarette and held it for a long moment. His brow furrowed in concentration and she realized he was doing something with his tongue behind his closed lips. Her curiosity was piqued, along with another feeling she really didn't want to name at that moment.

Finally, Daryl tilted his head back a little and opened his mouth, not wide but enough. The tip of his tongue emerged, upon which was balanced a perfect marble sized bubble, filled with smoke. The sides of his tongue wavered and undulated, each muscle fiber working to keep the smoke ball balanced.

Amber stopped breathing. Apparently, her heart stopped too.

But her brain was working over time.

That was the sexiest, most erotic thing she had ever seen.

Suddenly she had an image of that concentrating face of his from a different angle, she looked down her own body as that talented tongue of his worked a very sensitive spot instead of that smoke bubble.

Sweet Jesus.

...phone?"

Amber jerked, coming back from her vivid fantasy. Daryl was looking at her with his eyebrow cocked. She hadn't even noticed when he had blown the smoke bubble away to pop and die on the ground below.

"I said, ain't that yore phone ringing?"

She finally heard it, the ringtone from inside the house. She jumped up and ran in, shamefully aware that the crotch of her panties was damp.


	13. Chapter 13

**EEEEEEEEEK! You guys have no idea how much I love waking up to new reviews!**

Zaii: **Honey, let me tell ya, the second I saw that gif, the first thing I thought of was how to put that man's tongue control to good use. I am fast approaching the age that a woman reaches her sexual peak. Poor Silvercreekdaddy can hardly keep up!**

**OK, enough of my tmi.**

**I think it's high time we turn up the heat on these two. Let's poke them with a redneck party stick and see what happens.**

"Hey Mags."

Amber walked back out to the steps with the phone attached to her ear and took her seat next to Daryl.

"Don't call me that. I don't like it."

"Okay Mags."

"Bitch."

"Slut."

Daryl turned and gave Amber a wide eyed look. She just grinned back as she kept her banter with Maggie.

"God I missed you, girl! I'm so glad your back!"

"For real."

"What are you doing?"

"I've been watching Daryl skin this rattlesnake he shot in my bed when I woke up."

*Silence*

"You there Ma..."

"WHATTHEHELL?ASNAKE?WEREYOUBIT?HOLYSHITWHYWASDARYL THERE?OHMYGODYOUSLEPTWITHHIMDIDN'TYOU!"

Amber held the phone away from her ear with a grimace which unfortunately enabled Daryl to hear the last part of Maggie's screams. He paled a little and took a long drink of his tea.

"Chill your ass out Maggie!" Amber yelled back. "No I didn't sleep with him. I told you we were just friends! He slept on the couch because the dam flooded. You think I'm some kind of whore or something?"

Apparently, Maggie had gained some of her composure. "Amber, honey, you forget we ran around together in high school."

"Maybe I should tell Glenn how old you REALLY were when you lost your virginity?"

As the conversation progressed, Daryl seemed to shrink deeper and deeper into the step, trying desperately to think of a way of getting out of earshot. Finally, it turned to the snake incident and he was able to gain a bit of composure. Amber just watched him absently as she talked to the friend she had reconnected with the night before. It was obvious from her half of the conversation what she was going ask when she addressed him.

"Maggie wants to know..."

He interrupted, shaking his head. "Nope, I ain't goin back ta Jake's t'nite. What you do is up ta you."

She stuck her tongue out and brought the phone back up to her ear. "You heard him right?"

"Yeah, what about us cooking out at your place on the pond?"

"Might as well. We don't have anything else to do."

Amber saw that Daryl was eyeing her with an odd look and that he didn't realize Maggie had intentionally included him in their plans. He assumed he was just a tag along because he worked for her Papaw. Sometimes hanging out with him felt like teaching a class in Normal Life 101.

"Hold on Maggie." Amber put the phone on the step.

"Daryl, look, Maggie specifically said 'What are you and Daryl doing today? Do y'all have plans?'"

Daryl looked at her suspiciously from under his bangs. Damn, he was like dealing with an alley cat out in the rain. He wanted in so badly but then ran like hell once you opened the door. She continued on, "Do you have plans for later today?"

Shake of the head. _No_.

"Would you like to hang out here and cook out with Glenn and Maggie?"

Shrug. _Probably yes, but I don't want to look desperate._

Amber rolled her eyes and then had an idea.

"Okay, how about this? You want to build a big fire and burn shit over it while you drink beer and make Glenn look like a pussy?"

He finally cracked a tiny grin and nodded. Amber may have been teaching Normal Life 101 but she was the star student of Advanced Dixon Speak. She picked the phone up and cemented the plans with Maggie. All hands on deck in her front yard at 6 p.m. Guests were bringing the alcohol. Home team had the food.

Like the song says, all her rowdy friends were coming over tonight.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl could hear Maggie and Glenn coming before they even got past the big house. It was a good thing Amber's grandparent's were at church camp meeting. Maggie had the radio in her daddy's truck cranked up and all the windows down. She was leaning out the passenger window hollering as Gretchen Wilson's "Here for the Party" blasted in all it's redneck glory. Glenn edged the dually over the dam and turned it around so the tailgate faced the fire pit at Maggie's direction.

Daryl's pickup mirrored it's position on the other side of the fire. Amber had asked him to take the bike home when the dam cleared around lunch time and to return with his truck. He had changed out of the tee and put on one of his plaid button ups, the sleeves on the tee were about to kill him. Amber had also let him know that Maggie and Glenn would be staying the night so he was more than welcome to. She went on to explain that when she and Maggie were in community college together, anytime their friends cooked out on the lake and her grandparents were gone everyone would just stay the night. Daryl picked up that this was code for "we all got shit faced and slept next to the fire." That was one of the things he liked about her. She was a good combination of all that domestic shit like cooking, and then could go out and have a good time without acting like she was above all that.

Maggie jumped out of the dually as soon as it stopped moving and gave Daryl a quick wave as she ran into the kitchen. The men could hear both women shriek in laughter immediately.

Tonight was going to be interesting.

Daryl moved to help Glenn unload the two coolers of beer and a large paper bag.

"Shit, y'all buy the whole damn liquor store?! There ain't but four of us and Amber don't drink beer."

Glenn jerked his head toward the bag. "That's Amber's. Maggie wanted this much. Said we might be here as late as supper tomorrow."

Daryl rolled his eyes when he saw the bag held two bottles of Tennessee Honey. "Ya know yer pussy whipped right?"

Glenn shrugged. "At least I'm getting to hit the pussy I'm whipped with. Better than you're doing."

Daryl chucked a piece of ice at Glenn's head, only missing because his target ducked.

"Me n'Amber ain't like that."

"Let me guess, you're still firmly in the friend-zone?"

"The fuck is that shit supposed ta mean?"

"Amber said she wanted to be friends. She just wasn't ready for a relationship?"

Daryl didn't confirm or deny, just crossed his arms and leaned against the truck as he narrowed his eyes at Glenn.

"Let me tell you," Glenn stated firmly. "A year and a half ago I was where you are. I could write a book about the friend zone. But people don't realize that it's really the sweetest spot to be. They need a shoulder to cry on, somebody to just hang with, somebody to be a hero, whether it's fixing a down computer"he gestured to himself "or shoot a snake," he pointed at Daryl "and we get to be some 'big damn heroes'." Glenn laughed a little like he had made a joke only he got.

"Your fuckin nuts ya know that?" Daryl said plainly. "What makes ya think I want ta be more than friends with her anyway?"

"Why don't we go to Jake's, let her dance with Shane a couple times and then ask him?"

Daryl growled then. "I ain't one ta complicate things."

"Life's complicated no matter what. Might as well enjoy the ride, or getting rode, whichever."

His mind suddenly flashed an image of the dream from that morning, Amber lowering herself onto him. Daryl turned to the lake, hiding his incriminating blush. He didn't sign up for all this unwanted advice shit. Just because the scrawny geek was going to try to have his back at Jake's last night didn't mean he had to listen to him.

"I can already tell, short round, I'm gonna kick yore ass before this weekends over."

Daryl grabbed a bottle of whiskey and headed to the trailer to put it in the freezer. He might drink some himself before this night was over. Beer just wasn't going to cut it.

He was making his way across the porch when he heard Amber and Maggie talking. He stopped short, next to the screen when he heard his name, hidden by the open door.

"...Daryl know?" Maggie asked.

"Know what?" Amber was at the sink.

"That you're interested?"

"What makes you think I am?"

"Because you keep answering questions with questions."

Daryl rolled his eyes. Apparently Glenn wasn't alone in this. Couldn't people leave shit alone? They had just got her Mamaw off their backs.

"Amber, he danced with you in your house. During a thunderstorm. And then saved you from a snake the next morning before cooking you breakfast. I'd be worried about you if you weren't horny for him."

Amber laughed then. "Maggie, you're crazy!"

"Just sayin' sister. Are you telling me you don't find him attractive?"

Daryl scoffed silently, wishing he was anywhere else but stuck listening to them. There was no way he could move without making it look like he was purposely eavesdropping. He had spent his whole life knowing he was nothing and now was going to hear it coming out of her mouth.

Amber turned to Maggie at the counter, appearing to be thinking for a minute. Daryl winced, knowing what was coming.

"Maggie, he's hot as hell."

Fuckin' fuck.

He had to have misheard. There was no way anybody had ever thought that way about him

"That's what I thought, " Maggie replied smugly, "Now spill it, girl."

Things just got complicated for Daryl Dixon.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Amber leaned across the counter, shrugging sheepishly.

"What's there to spill, Mags? You see what he looks like."

Maggie shook her head. "No way. That's bullshit, the same as you telling me why I think Glenn's good lookin'."

"Fine. I hope you ain't in a hurry. Those arms and shoulders? And it's not just how they look, he's strong. Did you see how he picked me up last night at Jake's off that stool with one arm like I wasn't nothin'?"

"Hell yes! Now you're preachin'!"

Amber laughed, glad Daryl was down at the trucks with Glenn.

"His eyes, their so blue. And when he comes into mamaws in the mornings his hair is sticking up everywhere like he just rolled out of bed, he's so damn cute!"

"Aha, I knew it!" Maggie crowed "You wanna fuck him!"

"Shit, Mags, it ain't just that though."

Maggie cut back her enthusiasm a little. "You serious? He's only been here a week."

"Yeah, but I thought about that. He eats my cooking three meals a day, works beside me every afternoon. I already understand all those damn nods and shrugs. We've spend more time together than a lot of couples who've dated for weeks."

"And? What have you figured out in all this time?"

"I like him. Really like him. I know you'll think I'm crazy, but he's sweet Maggie. You should have seen how he freaked out when he thought that snake had bitten me."

Maggie nodded solemnly. "So now what?"

Amber shrugged, suddenly coming down from her Dixon induced high. "Now nothing. He doesn't see me like that."

"How do you know? You're the one who put him in the friend zone."

Amber chuckled. "You sound like poor Glenn. And Daryl agreed, quickly, when I said I wasn't interested."

"And what if things changed? What if he was interested?"

Amber leaned close to her friend with a wicked grin.

"I'd violate that country boy on every flat surface in this trailer."

Their laughter was interrupted by the crash of a bottle shattering against the rough pine of the porch floor.


	14. Chapter 14

**I pondered several different ways to take the next step for this couple and decided to just rip the band aid off in one fell swoop. I'm glad y'all like it. **

**Yeah, Glenn was a little out there with Daryl. But I'm guessing Maggie put him up to it. And when Maggie says jump, Glenn says "How high?"**

**Side note: I am a lady in the court of Queen Kaye (aka SOA lovin mom). Ya mess with her ya mess with me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then this doesn't apply to you.**

**I really liked writing this Daryl. In all my other fics he's a virgin, so it was nice to write him with at least a tiny bit of game.**

**Please let me know how it worked for ya!**

Amber had felt an ice cold wave hit her body when she heard the crash. There was no doubt who was standing right outside the door. That was just how her luck ran.

It was confirmed when the curses hit her ears. She had ran to the door and couldn't even look at Daryl. She just hit auto pilot, getting down on her knees to pick up the shards of glass. It was either that or end up crying her eyes out like she had this morning. Except this time, she wouldn't have a broad tattooed chest to cry into.

Only the three largest pieces of glass made their way into her hands before he spoke.

"Stop."

His boots were directly in front of her and she refused to look any higher, the shame making her wish the floor would go ahead and soak her up like it was doing the liquor. She shook her head and picked up another piece, realizing in the back of her head that Maggie had made a sudden exit sometime after the bottle hit the floor, the little chickenshit.

Daryl squatted down in front of her. "Yer barefoot, and in shorts with yer knees in it. Just. Fuckin. Stop.!" he didn't raise his voice until the last sentence when he realized he was being ignored.

Amber reached for another piece of glass and was suddenly lifted from the floor. All the glass in her hand fell back onto the weathered pine as Daryl threw her over his shoulder without even grunting. He took the space between the door and the kitchen in two long strides and sat her firmly on the counter. She felt the Formica shudder under her as his hands slammed down beside her hips, effectively pinning her in place without touching her. Amber still looked down, refusing to cry, refusing to look at him because she knew what she would see. He was pissed, close to what she had seen on him at Jake's. Except this time it was at her. He was probably ashamed of her too, of what she had done to their friendship. But what she feared the most was the hurt. He had extended himself to someone for what could have very well been the first time in his life and she couldn't leave DAMN WELL ENOUGH ALONE as usual and screwed it up.

"I ain't askin but once. Did ya mean what ya said?"

His voice had an odd strangled sound she had never heard and that was what finally brought her eyes to meet his. Anger, shame, and hurt weren't even close to what she saw in that blue.

Fear.

Hope

And something else she had never seen before on him, that seemed to turn his eyes from the color of faded denim to almost navy.

This was her out. She could fix it as much as it could be fixed. She could say she was jerking Maggie's chain and they could try to pick up the pieces of what was left of their friendship.

"Yes. Every word."

Daryl was faster than that rattlesnake could have ever dreamed of being. His lips were on hers before she could register what he was doing. One hand was grasping the back of her neck, pulling her roughly to him while the other grasped her jaw, thumb on one side, fingers on the other. The kiss was desperate, rough, bordering on brutal. It was full of raw want, for her, something Amber had never experienced.

It was exactly what she needed.

After a split second of shock she responded in kind. With her sitting on the counter they were nearly the same height so she wound one arm around his neck so her fingers could clutch at his hair. The other hand fisted his shirt over his heart and pulled him to her. She stopped trying to think, stopped even trying to breathe. For the first time in a long time, Amber just felt, tasted, just fucking was. And it was easily the best thing she had ever experienced in her twenty seven years.

Daryl moved the hand from her jaw to run it down the outside of her hip, the rough callouses sending cold chills up her back. When he got to her knee he hooked his fingers under it and pulled her to the edge of the counter against him. She felt growing bulge in his jeans brush against her and she instinctively tried to press closer. Daryl groaned then, opening his mouth and Amber took the opportunity. She slid her tongue across his lower lip and then sought further.

He was so warm, almost hot and tasted of smoke in a raging primal way. There was a bare undertone of something sweet too and Amber smiled against him when she realized it was her sweet tea that he had been drinking all day. Who would have thought a man like him would taste sugary.

Their tongues met and she moaned quietly when his slid over her lower teeth and began to explore her mouth. The kiss was slowly becoming softer and easier as they relaxed into it.

Finally, they pulled back to catch their breath. Both of Amber's arms were draped over Daryl's shoulders and his hands were on the tops of her thighs, thumbs brushing over the skin below the hem of her shorts. They just looked at each other for several long seconds, panting through slightly opened mouths as their bodies tried to shunt oxygen through pounding hearts and to racing brains.

"Woman, ya scare the shit outta me." Daryl admitted, his voice low and husky.

Amber nodded. "Same here, Desperado. Now kiss me again."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Amber tasted just like she smelled, like rain and crystal clear springs. Her mouth was so damn cool against Daryl's own overheated one that it reminded him of how it felt to drink ice water after working outside all day in the sun.

The second kiss wasn't as frantic, but there was still an urgency on both their parts. Daryl cautiously brushed his fingers against the bottom of one of her breasts. Amber nodded once without breaking their kiss, arching her back to encourage that hand. The weight of it filled his palm and fingers and he knew, even through her clothes, that she had the best tits of anyone he had ever been with. He cupped the generous swell and then brushed his thumb over the peak.

Amber's reaction was immediate, breaking the kiss to moan low in her throat and bringing her knees up to hook over Daryl's hips and tug him against her more firmly. He had the thought that if they didn't stop soon, he was going to end up fucking her right there on that countertop while they had guests outside. And in that moment, it sounded like the best idea he had in a long time.

He felt her hands slip under the hem of his shirt, to his lower back and he froze, all the bravado brought on by his eavesdropping disappearing. Eyes closed tight, he moved his hands to grip her arms, stilling her motions.

"Daryl, now you stop. I saw them this morning."

He didn't move, his voice a whisper. "Why didn't ya say somethin?"

She shrugged under his grip. "Nothing to say. There're old, someone hurt you when you were little. I figured you'd tell me if and when you were ready."

He looked up at her from under his hair. "M'backs worse."

Amber pressed her forehead against his and sighed. "I figured. I'm not asking you to take your shirt off right now, just to let me touch you. But if you don't want me to, that's alright too. It won't change how I feel."

Daryl took a few long moments to even out his breathing before letting go of her arms. He buried his head into her shoulder and leaned in, his unspoken consent halting and tense as he braced himself on the counter.

Her hands slowly crept up under his shirt and he expected her to pull back when she got to the deep scar that ran across his lower back. It was one of the worst ones. But her fingers passed over, soothing it with their coolness against his own fevered flesh.

It was the most intimate thing Daryl had ever ever experienced. Even during the few times he had sought a drunk release, fumbling in his truck with some woman he picked up from a bar, he had never taken off his shirt or let them put their hands underneath. Somehow, this that he was allowing Amber was more baring than sex itself.

Her fingertips were stroking his mid back now, it was as far as the buttoned shirt would let her go. He found himself relaxing back into her caresses, it still scared him but at the same time it felt so damn good. Then he straightened up and pulled away a little and he saw Amber's face suddenly fill with worry. He kissed her once on the lips quickly to reassure her.

"Just hold on a minute."

Daryl stepped over to the window and looked out at the yard and the pond beyond it.

"What are they doing? Do we need to go out?" Amber asked from where she was perched, her disappointment obvious.

Daryl shook his head. "Nah, she's swimmin' and he's sittin on the dock watchin'. Think we're okay for a few."

He shut the door and came back to her, nervously working the buttons on his shirt.

"Like this," he breathed, "but it stays on, a'ight?"

She nodded and he kissed her, this time slow and easy. Her hands slid across his chest then, tracing his tattoo before trailing down across his stomach. She moved under the fabric, returning to his back, moving up higher now that the shirt was loosed.

One of his hands was creeping under her own top now, and she gasped in surprise when he palmed her breast and gently squeezed. Daryl's other hand buried itself in her hair, using it to shift her head so he could begin to use his lips and tongue on her jaw, trailing kisses down her neck. He took a chance and nipped at sensitive skin where her neck met her shoulder.

Amber jerked as if shot and her nails dug into his back for a second as she cried out. Daryl almost moved back in shock but she stopped him.

"Again...please..."

He bit her harder this time, while rolling her nipple through her bra with his thumb. She shuddered under him. He had never done anything like this with anyone and honestly had no clue how to continue. All he knew was she tasted and smelled so damn good and he wanted more.

Amber brought her hands back around again as he continued to work at her neck and shoulder. She lightly raked her nails down his chest to his stomach and he growled, tugging at the hem of her shirt. She lifted her arms without hesitation so he could pull it over her head and immediately went to unclasp her bra. Daryl pulled the straps down her arms and tossed it on the couch. His eyes widened and red crept up his cheeks as he looked at her.

Amber grinned at his reaction and leaned back on her hands on the counter, giving him time to adjust. He ran one hand up her stomach to fill it with one of the firm globes.

"...best fuckin' titties I ever seen."

Daryl looked up at her face then, his blush deepening as he realized he had said it out loud. She just chuckled.

"You're such a smooth talker..."

Now both his hands were on her, rough callouses dragging over sensitive skin, making her hum and tremble. He leaned forward and picked up where he left off on her shoulder. Slowly, he pushed her farther back and adjusted his hands and arms until his elbows were on the counter and she lay back in his hands under him. His mouth was moving across her chest, tongue leaving a damp trail in his wake. He neared her breast and her hands found his hair, silently urging him to the hard pink bud that tightened in anticipation even as he approached. It was all she could do, she was completely at his mercy in his hands leaned back and legs dangling off the floor.

Finally he sucked the hard peak into his hot mouth and she bucked underneath him, his name coming out of her mouth. His tongue flicked over it and her hips jerked up, her legs coming up and around his waist.

"Daryl..." she whimpered.

"Mmmmmmm?" he hummed around her nipple.

"What are we doing?"

"Fuck if I know..." he answered, moving his attentions to the other breast.

"Okay."

He sat her up then and their mouths met, tongues battling each other for dominance. His hands were constantly moving, her throat to her breasts across her stomach and then back up to do it again.

"We need to stop..." she breathed against his lips.

"Yeah, don't need ta do this here..." he agreed, hands still moving nonstop as she ground her hips against him.

"You're supposed to be setting up ..." she gasped, suddenly cut off as he rolled both nipples between rough thumbs and forefingers simultaneously.

"the grill?" he snorted before ducking his head into her neck. "and yer supposed ta be makin' potato salad." he murmured against her skin, making her squirm.

Her hand drifted down and slid over the member that was straining against his fly. He stiffened and cursed.

"Fuckin' hell, Amber!"

Now it was her turn to laugh. She withdrew her hand and placed it on his chin, forcing his head up to look at her.

"Trust me," she panted "I really want this. But we have guests outside, and I would rather this happen somewhere other than the kitchen counter the first time."

Daryl swallowed hard and nodded. The first time. That implied there would be more times after that. Sparks flew between his ears. He had never been with the same woman more than once.

"Yeah, me too."

He rested his head on her shoulder for a minute and then gave it a peck before withdrawing from her and buttoning his shirt. Snagging her bra and shirt from the couch, he gave them too her while looking at the floor. His former shyness had returned now that the heat of the moment had cooled a bit.

When Amber had dressed he moved to pick her up off the counter to set her on the floor but she stopped him. She looked up at him and smirked.

"I ain't got a clue what I'm doin'" he murmured dejectedly.

"Me neither. But we can figure it out. I'm serious about something though..." she trailed off.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, suddenly afraid.

"...I'm not in this for just a fuck buddy. If that's all you want then I can't."

He wound his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

"It ain't. But I don't know how ta do this shit. Ain't never had nobody who wanted anything but that."

She nodded against him. "It's okay."

"So what do we do now?"

"I guess you go set up the grill, I'll make potato salad, and we'll cook out, drink, play some music and have fun. And we'll take it as it comes. We don't have to tell Glenn and Maggie anything if you don't want."

"I reckon they already figured it out. I cain't be like him though..."

"I know. I don't want him, I want you."

Daryl sighed and pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before sweeping her off the counter and setting her on her feet.

"I reckon I best clean that glass up before ya get cut."


	15. Chapter 15

**Yay! Some smutty times, and some fluff! Not the main event, but hey, we're close! Lemme know how it works for ya!**

Daryl was trying his best to hold his shit together. To his credit, he was only on his second beer as he sat on that dock with Glenn as Maggie and Amber swam. But that didn't mean he didn't want to drink a whole lot more.

His nerves had started to get the better of him as soon as be had stepped out of the trailer and actually had to interact with someone besides her. He had expected Maggie or Glenn to start some smart shit or at least look at them funny. To their credit, all he had noticed was Maggie raise a questioning eyebrow in Amber's direction when she thought he wan't looking. She had just shook her head back and frowned , obviously not about to give up what had happened between them after he dropped that damn bottle of Jack. Good, he had thought, he liked that she wasn't about to make their shit, whatever it was,total public knowledge. He wasn't ready for that yet.

Daryl had busied himself at the grill grate that he set up over the fire. Now that shit he could handle. He had been burning his dinner over an open fire for as long as he could remember. The only difference was he had never had anything as nice as the expensive marinated steaks Amber had brought out to him. Then they had all been busy eating themselves stupid. Amber had went inside after cleaning up to change into her bathing suit and that's when things got bad.

When she had come out of the trailer with that thing on, it was every he could do not to accidently swallow the cigarette he had hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The color was no surprise, fucking pink like everything else she owned. The bottom was made like a tiny pair of shorts, and good thing because even that barely contained all that ass she had. But the top was a couple of small triangles connected by string and that definitely did nothing to hide those fuckin' fantastic titties of hers. Daryl had turned his head sharply over to Glenn, ready to tell him to keep his eyes elsewhere. Surprisingly, the boy had only eyes for Maggie. Daryl did not get that. She was alright he guessed, but he had enough of that skinny chick stuff with the whores Merle used to drag home. Amber had walked past him with a grin as he gaped. She jiggled in all the right places, and it didn't help that he now knew what a good half of those jiggles felt like in his hands.

So now he sat on the end of the dock, nursing a beer, his feet in the water with his cigs and lighter on top of his boots next to him. Glenn was making a bad attempt at conversation but Daryl was mostly absorbed in his own thoughts as he watched a couple of scraps of pink.

"So you know about the whole dancing thing with them right?"

"Huh?"

Glenn grinned, "You don't know the whole story about the sexy dancing thing with them? Like at Jake's?"

"The fuck you talkin' about?" Daryl turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, man, it was when they were in high school. They were co-captains of the school dance team."

"Like halftime and all that shit?"

"Exactly!" Glenn pointed at him with his beer.

Daryl nodded, that fit Amber, she sure did like to shake that ass of hers.

"Not the whole story though dude! The show they did when they were seniors, Amber and Maggie designed it. And at the first ball game of the year, when that half time show started, the principal and all the teachers lost their shit. Care to guess why?"

Daryl smirked, "Bet I can."

"The official term was 'inappropriate performing at a school function'. But the real deal was the entire drill team was dancing like strippers. Both got kicked off the dance team and suspended."

That was honestly the last thing Daryl needed to keep his mind straight, he now had an image of Amber in one of those uniforms, all spandex and sequins dancing the same way she had at Jake's. He had never went to a football game in high school but he would have for that. And the idea that Amber had been a bad girl made him want to laugh.

The women had come up to the dock then, Glenn helping Maggie out. Daryl had looked down at Amber treading water to the side and lost himself for a minute. She was flushed from laughing and swimming and was beaming up at him.

"Help a girl out here?"

It was only then that Daryl realized that he was supposed to be pulling her up like Glenn had. He had just reached over and put his hand out but she didn't pull herself up. She planted her feet on one of the docks pylons and pulled. He got the point, she was trying to pull him in but that shit wasn't happening. He just flexed his arm and pulled her almost totally out of the water, using the natural buoyancy until she was almost nose to nose with him.

"Yer about thirty pounds short a bein able ta do that."

Her eyes had widened then and Daryl had thought he scared her somehow for a second. But then he remembered what she had said to Maggie.

_...those arms and shoulders...he picked me up off that stool at Jake's like I wasn't nothin..._

Amber's eyes flicked down to the muscles in his arm that was holding her up and confirmed his thought. She was getting off on him doing that.

Suddenly, a weight slammed into his back and Daryl fell ass over teakettle into the water. He came up sputtering and pointed a finger at Glenn as he laughed down at him, Maggie at his side.

"I'm gettin' out and then I'm kickin' yore ass!"

Glenn just shrugged, "Sorry, orders man. You'll thank me later." Maggie grabbed his arm and drug him up to the fire pit as she laughed.

"Orders? The fuck you mean..." Then he felt a warm weight settle around his back and arms came around his chest. Ah, orders, he got it now.

"You put them up ta that." he grumbled unconvincingly.

"Maybe." Amber responded, her lips on his neck. "You can get out if you want to."

"Nah." and then Daryl grabbed her arms, pinning her to him and dunked them both. He was able to maneuver underwater until she was facing him. The water was shallow enough there that his feet were firmly on the smooth rocks that lined this part of the pond but hers weren't even close, giving him an advantage. Then he popped up dragging her with him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. His hands immediately went to her waist and he felt his cock twitch despite the cool water and confining denim.

"No fair!" she sputtered, shaking the water out of her face.

"Shouldn't be s'damn short." Daryl smirked.

"You know what I think though," Amber leaned in, "I think you like that I'm so much shorter than you."

Daryl blushed then, she was right and he was afraid that made him weird. Then he was momentarily distracted, when he looked down he had caught an eyeful of pink clad (barely) breasts.

"My eyes are up here, Desperado." Amber laughed.

Then his head snapped up and he looked anywhere but her. Fuck, now she did think he was a pervert. Daryl felt her hand on his cheek and she forced him to meet her eyes.

"Hey, I didn't say I didn't like you looking. I was just playing."

He nodded and gave her a half smile. She licked her lips and leaned in and he panicked a little. She wanted him to kiss her but he could hear Glenn and Maggie talking down at the firepit. He looked over his shoulder toward where they had gone out of sight, and then back at Amber.

"S'rry...I..."

Amber smiled a little. "It's alright. Follow me." She let go of him and swam out if his arms, his body mourning the loss of her against him. She swam to the far side of the dock and then under it, Daryl not far behind. When he popped up next to her, they were in the cave like area underneath, the boards a couple of feet over their heads.

"Better?" Amber asked as she wound herself back around him.

"Yeah." Daryl murmured as his hands slipped around her again, the feeling already as natural to him as loading his bow. Now that they were concealed, he had no hesitation. His lips found hers and this time the kiss was hungry but controlled. She was able to support herself so his hands were free to travel where they pleased. He decided on her ass first, his hands drifting south until they were fully cupping her through the swim suit. He squeezed and she laughed against his lips.

"Is my ass the best you've seen too?" she asked, referencing his inadvertent "titties" comment.

"Ain't seen it yet," he growled, "but feels fuckin great."

"See, that's what I like about you."

"Hmmm?" Daryl hummed along her jaw as he kissed and licked a trail downward.

"You're all shy and everything until we get alone, then it's like you can't help yourself."

"Why d'you think I said ya scare the shit outta me?"

She stopped talking then, reduced to gasps and biting her lip. Daryl had returned to the spot on her neck he had found before and he was alternating between sucking the skin hard between his teeth and nipping roughly. Amber was able to remove her arms from around his neck and put her hands in his wet hair since he had a good grip on her ass. He was kneading it now, his cock growing harder every second. Daryl had never had this curvy of a woman in his hands and he was like a kid in a candy store.

He finally traced his way up and back to her lips. His hands slid up and paused at her neck over the ties to her suit.

"Go ahead," Amber urged him between kisses "Just the top one or I'll lose it in the water though."

"'kay" he was able to get out before her tongue slid into his mouth, effectively cutting him off.

Daryl tugged and the top fell from her shoulders. He wasted no time filling his hands, groaning quietly at the soft weights in his palms. He slid his thumbs over her nipples in the water and was rewarded by her hips bucking against his erection as her back arched. She was so damn responsive and it stroked his almost non-existent ego even as he stroked her body.

He continued his ministrations, Amber's hips moved faster and their kisses became more frantic until Daryl suddenly found himself dangerously close to the point of no return. The tell-tale twitch in his balls brought him to a screeching halt, terrified of such a juvenile act with her. His hands jerked down to her hips and pushed them away roughly. She startled from her own pleasure haze.

"Daryl, wha-oh..." she started and then realized the situation from the the way his eyes were closed as he breathed through clenched teeth. She stopped then and just waited, knowing he would be back to his usual shy self once he regained control. But there was no way she was going to let him withdraw due to embarrassment.

"Can you help tie my suit back?" Amber asked quietly, trying to act like it was casual question once his breathing had slowed. He nodded once tensely and she slipped her arms back around his neck. The tiny flinch she noticed made Amber wish whoever had done that to him was still around, for just a minute, just so she could put her fist in their face.

He tied the top of the suit and then unwrapped her arms stiffly, moving to the edge of the dock.

"Uhuh," she grabbed his arm, and swam around him so she could see him. "Daryl, look at me...please..."

He glanced up shamefully.

Amber moved to wrap her arms around him, flinch be damned. She reached up and gave him a peck at the corner of his mouth. "Sorry, but you don't get to check out." she said softly. "In case you didn't notice, I was enjoying myself a good bit there too. I thought you were just going to go ahead, and it wouldn't have bothered me a bit."

Daryl scoffed bitterly.

"I'm not just saying that! We've both been wound pretty tight since the kitchen. I was already planning on doing you a favor to help you blow off some steam."

His hands crept back up to her waist and he slowly let his forehead down against hers as he sighed.

"Shit, I can't...with you it's different...fuck..." he stumbled.

"Daryl, I know, dear god, I know." Amber relaxed into his hands now that he was back. " I've never acted like this with anyone before either. I was a little afraid, myself, that you would think I was some kind of slut."

Daryl's hands tightened almost painfully at her last word and he hissed "Don't say that. Don't EVER say that."

"Fine, I won't as long as you don't beat yourself up, okay?"

He looked up then and smirked, looking close to his usual self, "'kay."

"See, there you go. Now," she snuggled close to him and kissed him slowly for a bit for continuing. "You still want that favor?"

His brow furrowed for a second in confusion then his eyes widened. "Oh...I...uh," he ran his hand nervously over his face, "damn, Amber! Ya cain't just ask shit like that!"

"Alright," she shrugged," how about I just surprise you? C'mon, you need to get into some dry jeans. We'd hate for some future activities to be canceled due to chafing, wouldn't we?"

Amber dove down and out of sight to the outside of the dock, leaving Daryl standing with his mouth hanging open in shock.


	16. Chapter 16

**EEEEE! This chapter was so fun! Favor time!**

Amber dried and dressed hurriedly in the dim light of dusk from the window in her tiny bedroom. She grabbed a pair of black gym shorts and a fuchsia tank top, choosing to forgo a bra at the moment. The clothes would have to be changed shortly anyway for the little "performance" for the guys that she and Maggie had planned out. But first she had a "surprise" she had promised somebody.

Tiptoeing so he couldn't hear her, Amber propped herself up on on the door jam to the bathroom where Daryl was dressing. She tried the door knob, slowly so maybe he wouldn't hear it over the rustling of his clothes. She had to tamp down a giggle when it refused to turn. He had locked it. The man could be so shy he was almost a prude at times and it only served to excite her more. He was no virgin, had admitted that in a round about way. But it was obvious he wasn't the type to chase skirt unless he was liquored up. Most men would have jumped for joy at the offer of a "favor" but he had been so ...so what? Shocked? Embarrassed? Surely he had had one before? Surely...

Amber heard the click of a belt being fastened and her belly clenched. If only he knew what that did to her. Then the door opened and she tried to give him her best come hither grin. It almost failed because she had forgotten what Daryl looked like in the clothes she had moved from the washer to the dryer after breakfast that morning. That black wife beater fit him like a dream, leaving no doubt to the muscles rippling below the surface. But he had no clue, always walking around so self consciously it was almost painful to watch. Then she drew her eyes to his face. He was silent, mouth slack, his eyes wide.

Yeah, he knew what she was there for.

She leaned in the door and moved her eyes side to side as if making sure they were alone before looking up at him and whispering one word.

"Surprise!"

Daryl's hand fell from the door knob then as he took a step back into the room.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Fuckin...just fuck.

Daryl hadn't expected her to be standing there when he opened the door, especially with what she had in mind. Yeah, he had been pretty tore up about that whole "favor" thing. But when she said later, he thought later later. Not as soon as they got dried off and dressed.

Maybe that was the point.

Amber stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, locking it before she took his hand. She led him to the space between the tub and the sink, and gently nudged him to put his back against the wall. She looked up at him kind of expectantly but he had no clue what to do.

"You gonna say something or what?" she smiled up at him, obviously much more comfortable than he.

"Ummm...hey?"

"Okay," she laughed. "Ummm Daryl, I really want you to kiss me but I kinda can't reach."

That he could do. He took hold of her hips and spun them to the side setting her on the countertop. She laughed as his lips pressed against hers.

"I meant for you to bend down silly. You can't keep picking me up every time you want to kiss me!"

"Why not?" he murmured, more in his element with the kissing part of this. That they had done that several times today and he knew what to expect. Her mouth felt so good under his, their tongues sliding together. This was easier than talking, or worrying if he was doing other things good or even good enough. He tried to push down that he had been just as worried about kissing a few short hours before. That seemed like a life time ago now.

She pulled up the hem of his shirt and he stiffened for just a second.

"I'm not pulling it off, okay? Just up."

"A'ight."

Daryl tried not to moan in her mouth when she slid her hands up over his stomach and chest but it was a lost cause. No one had ever touched him like that, her fingers dancing over his skin, soothing him, lo...NO! Just...no. He wasn't going there. It just felt damn good and that's all he would allow himself to think.

She flattened her hands across his upper chest, and he leaned into it. His hands were braced on the counter and the strain caused the muscles under her hands to bunch up. Amber groaned and he grinned against her mouth. He didn't know why she liked some muscles that had been built up by throwing around engines and dragging deer out of the woods. But he did know that he liked that she liked it.

Daryl's hands had just started to creep under her top when she broke away and asked breathlessly "Let me down."

"Nope." Daryl replied, ducking his head for another kiss.

"Yes!" she huffed, and then she moved one of her hands to his belt buckle. "I've got something I want to do."

Daryl swallowed hard, suddenly serious. "Just...we can...like this...so I can kiss you...while..."

Amber giggled. "Daryl, honey, I wasn't talking about a hand job."

"Oh." That was all he could get out then. She was gonna...oh, hell. Nobody had ever done that for him and the thought of her...damn!

"You okay there?" she asked and he managed a nod before he gripped Amber's waist with shaking hands and slid her to the floor.

"Calm down," she murmured soothingly. "You don't have to do anything but enjoy. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna enjoy doing it." she smiled up at him and he managed a weak grin back. He didn't get the last part she had said, but at this point he couldn't put together words. It felt like every bit of blood had drained from his brain down into his dick.

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Okay, maybe she had been wrong. In fact, just from his near heart attack at the mention of it, Amber was now ninety five percent sure Daryl had never gotten a blow job before. The thought had her brain (and a couple other parts) gleefully rubbing it's hands together in anticipation. She hadn't been the total slut Maggie had been in college, but she had done enough to know that she had some serious skills in this particular department.

She looked up at Daryl who now had his head tilted back against the wall, his eyes tightly shut. She didn't even have his pants open yet and he looked half gone. This was a good idea. Tonight was going to be so much better for both of them because of it.

"Listen, " Amber instructed sweetly as she undid his belt, trying to keep her own cool as the buckle jingled, "you're going to want to watch if you can, it makes it better." The button and zipper came next and his cock practically jumped out and asked to shake hands it was so hard. Her hand itched to wrap around it but the way it was jerking she knew that wasn't a good idea.

Then Amber got a good look and she lost a bit if her own confidence. A low moan escaped her throat, Daryl was easily the biggest she had ever had. A rush of wet headed south in her own body in anticipation. "Down girl," she thought to the wayward part as it throbbed, "save it for later."

She hooked her fingers in his jeans and boxers and pulled them down slowly. Then she hit her knees and tossed her head back.

"Daryl, I'm gonna touch you now."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

Daryl finally brought his head down, only because she had told him to, or at least told him it would make it better.

Better? BETTER? She was about to put his fuckin' dick in that damn beautiful mouth of hers. How EXACTLY did shit get any better than that? And to beat all, she acted like she was practically drooling for it, moaning and shit.

Fuck. He was going to come so fast, it was going to be embarrassing.

She hit her knees and tossed her head back.

"Daryl, I'm gonna touch you now."

Then her hand, softer than soft slid over the base, bringing him to her as she held eye contact with him. She slid just the head in between her lips and stilled to let him adjust.

Good damn thing she did, or else it would have been over. His eyes slammed shut of their own accord. Baseball, huntin', fishin', any damn thing he could think of besides her mouth was drug front and center as he tried to hold it. The last thing he wanted was for this to end right now, even though he knew it was going to be futile to try for too much longer. Daryl was glad this was happening on a deeper level too. If not, by the time they got together tonight it would have been ridiculous.

Daryl's breathing slowed just a little and Amber must have realized it because she went further down, so achingly slow that he fought his hips urge to buck forward. Her mouth that was so cool to his own tongue now felt brain meltingly warm and wet as it slid down him. She took him most of the way and hesitated. He felt the fingers of one of her hands intertwine with his as they fisted against the wall to his right. She loosened his fist and then brought his hand to her head. His fingers slid into that hair of hers, tightening automatically in the strands as she bucked back on him. He heard himself whimper, and in that moment gave exactly zero fucks that he sounded like a little pussy.

Amber wanted him to show her how fast to go. Holy. Shit.

He pressed softly on her head and she ducked down again, this time with her tongue pressed to the bottom of his cock. He released the pressure and she pulled back. This had to be what heaven felt like, if it existed.

Only three more times and he felt it building again, the familiar pressure at the base of his spine.

"Oh...Shit..." he growled, knowing there wouldn't be any way to stop. He sped her up a little as his balls started to draw up. Then her free hand slid up his inner thigh and she cupped them and tugged, not painfully but a sweet pressure and he was done.

Abso-fuckin'-lutely done.

Daryl came like a freight train in her mouth, his hand tightening in her hair as the other slammed into the wall in a fist.

"FUCK AMBER!" He roared as white hot lights flashed behind his eyelids and his legs shook.

He finally came around to himself after a bit, leaning against the wall and sweating. He heard the jingle of a belt buckle as it was fastened at his waist (when had she pulled his pants back up anyway?).

"When you feel like it, you need to come out and help Glenn move my mattress out to the bed of your truck. I told them they could have the sleeper sofa in here and we would stay outside. If that's alright with you?"

Daryl felt himself nod weakly. At this point, Amber could ask him to lay with her in the very flames of hell and he would with a smile.

A rustle of plastic, the click of his lighter, a second later a cigarette was held to his mouth.

"Here, you look like you need one."

Daryl somehow found the ability to lip the cigarette and then she was gone, after giving his ass an affectionate pat, the door clicking behind her.

Fuck yeah he needed a cigarette.

And a beer.

A couple shots of her Tennessee Honey.

Maybe that pint jar of 'shine he had under the seat in his truck.

Hell, that joint that Merle had left taped to the roof of the glove box may be necessary.

Because if the last few minutes were any indicator, Amber was going to kill him tonight.


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own Luke Bryan's "Country Girl (shake it for me)**

**Dance time! Lemmee know if you like it!**

Amber had to bite the side of her cheeks to keep from laughing when Daryl stepped out of the door and walked across the porch. His walk was so cocky, he was almost strutting. She was sitting on the tailgate of Herschel's dually, going through the choices of "performance" music with Maggie while Glenn attended to the fire.

"Hey, Short Round! Get yore ass up here and help me move this mattress!" Daryl yelled from the porch, trying his best to sound scary despite the grin that threatened at the corners of his mouth.

Maggie waited until both men were in the house before punching Amber in the arm. "Hell, you sucked his dick, didn't you?!"

Amber just grinned at her friend and took another drink of the whiskey she had mixed with her ginger ale.

Maggie squealed and then laughed. "Oh my God, girl, spill it!"

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell, Mags!"

"Yeah, well, last time I checked ladies didn't give head either. And Glenn only walks and smiles like that after that."

"I'll just say this. I'm looking forward to tonight even more now."

Their conversation was cut short when the trailer door opened, Glenn pushing it open with his back as the men came out with the mattress. They went to put it in the back of the truck but Amber stopped them, having them prop it up on the side of the truck for the moment. Daryl gave her an odd look but she just grinned back slyly. Then she and Maggie grabbed two metal folding chairs and put them on opposite sides of the fire pit facing away from each other. The chairs were about ten yards away from one another, each facing the tailgate of the respective trucks. That way each woman would have room to "work" while making sure the show was for their man' eyes only. The girl's worked at the radio in the dually for a minute.

Then Amber grabbed Daryl's arm and led him to the chair at the back of his truck.

"What the hell are y'all up to?" he growled as she sat him down.

"Just chill." Amber ordered, taking the last drink out of her cup in one gulp as she tried to find some liquid courage. It had been a long time since she had danced like this. Actually, she had never danced exactly like this and that's what made her nervous. "Now I'm gonna gonna go in for a minute with Mags and I'll be back. The only rule is you have to stay in the seat and facing your truck okay?"

"Rule? The fuck?" he began but she was gone, walking up to the porch with Maggie in the flickering light of the bonfire that Daryl had his back too.

"Short Round?" Daryl yelled over his shoulder.

"No clue, man." Glenn answered, "But anytime Maggie acts like this, I end up a happy man. So I'm just gonna go with it."

Daryl grunted in reply, not knowing how to respond.

It was only a few minutes until he heard the women come out. They separated outside the circle of light the fire threw and then he forgot to breath. Amber was wearing a pair of worn cutoffs so short he was sure her ass would be hanging out the back. He suddenly found himself wishing she would turn around so he could check and make sure. She was wearing her brown cowboy boots. The only thing up top was that pink bikini top. She had taken her hair down and it was tumbling around her shoulders and down her back.

Before Daryl could bring enough blood to his brain to speak, Amber grabbed a beer out of the ice chest and handed it to him. He took it without even looking, as his eyes were occupied elsewhere.

"You like it?" Amber asked nervously as she kneed apart his legs and stood between them.

"Holy fuck..." Daryl choked out.

Amber laughed then, relaxing a little. "I'll take that as a yes." She pulled his cigarettes and lighter out of his front pocket and lit one for him. He leaned forward and took it and as he sat up his hand drifted to the back of her leg. She chuckled and stepped away.

"Not supposed to touch me until the end Daryl. And I want you to know you're the only man I've ever done this for." she turned her attention over his shoulder. "Just a second, Mags, let me get in the truck before you start the music."

Oh shit.

He got it now.

The trucks and chairs were set up so he and Glenn could only see their respective women. The way she was dressed, her talking about 'rules'. Merle had drug him into enough titty bars before to recognize this.

Daryl was about to get the redneck version of a private lap dance.

He sat back in his chair, taking a long pull off the beer before a drag off the cigarette. But he was nowhere near relaxed, every muscle in his body was taut as Amber hopped up into the bed of his truck, finally giving him the view he had been wanting. As he had thought, the bottom curve of her ass hung out of the shorts by at least an inch and he groaned.

Amber sat on his tool box, spreading her legs a little and cocked the toes of her boot a little so he could see easily that the crotch of those shorts wasn't more than two inches wide. His cock jerked like a eager dog at the end of a leash, bringing up the fact that there didn't appear to be any evidence of panties either. Then the music started up and he recognized it immediately. A slow grin spread across his face as she began tapping her toe with the beat before coming up ass first and rolling the rest of her body up.

_Got a little boom in my big truck_

_Gonna open up the doors and turn it up_

_Gonna stomp my boots in the Georgia mud_

_Gonna watch you make me fall in love_

Amber had hopped up onto the tool box and was rolling her hips with the beat and shaking her ass. Daryl leaned up, killed his beer and threw it to the side. As far as he was concerned, the less distraction the better.

_Get up on the hood of your daddies tractor_

_Up on the tool box, it don't matter_

_Down on the tailgate, girl I can't wait_

_To watch you do your thang._

Amber hopped down from the tail gate and dug the heels of her boots into the ground as she hit. The sudden stop made her breasts move in a way that nearly gave Daryl whiplash.

_Country girl, shake it for me, _

_Shake it for me girl, shake it for me_

_Country girl, shake it for me, girl_

_Shake it for me girl, shake it for me_

She was slowly making her way toward him. Daryl leaned back and spread his knees, praying to anyone that would listen in heaven or hell that that's where she would end up.

_Somebody's sweet little farmers child,_

_That's got it in her blood to get a little wild,_

_Ponytail and a pretty smile_

_Rope me in from a country mile_

Daryl wasn't disappointed. Amber was now between his knees dancing and it took everything he had to not just grab her and pull her into his lap. She turned and leaned all the way over, giving him an excellent close up view of her ass. His mouth actually watered as he thought about what it would be like to bite it.

_So come on over and get in my arms,_

_Swing me around this big old barn,_

_Tangle me up like grandmaws yarn, _

_Yeah, yeah, yeah_

Amber was directly in front of him now, those fantastic titties of hers in his face as she danced. The only thing keeping him from touching her was knowing Glenn and Maggie were on the other side of that fire behind him. A sudden pain in his hand had him looking down. He had forgotten about the cigarette long ago and it had burned down to his fingers. He flicked it away, unconcerned. Daryl's hair could have been on fire at that moment and he wouldn't have moved.

_All I wanna do is get to holdin you, And get to knowin you,_

_And get to showin' you, and get to lovin you before the night is through,_

_Baby you know what to do_

Amber pushed Daryl's legs together and she straddled them. Finally, he got a little relief in the form of friction. As far as he was concerned, the titty bar rule of no touching with your hands had no jurisdiction here and he gripped her hips hard as she began to grind against him. He might not dance, but fuck she could enough for both of them AND half the state of Georgia. He was so glad she had done what she did earlier, or else he would have came in his pants like a damn twelve year probably before she even touched him.

_Shake it for the young bucks sittin in the honky tonks_

_For the rednecks rockin' till the break of dawn_

_For the DJ spinnin' that country song_

_C'mon, C'mon, C'mon_

_Shake for the birds, shake it for the bees_

_Shake it for the catfish swimming deep in the creek_

_For the crickets and the critters and the squirrels_

_Shake it to the moon, shake it for me girl_

Daryl reached up and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling him to her like he had that morning in the kitchen. The kiss was much the same too, brutal and hot, except this time there was no surprise. Amber's tongue met his instantly and she continued to grind against his cock through their clothes. Daryl rocked his head back suddenly and yelled over his shoulder.

"SHORT ROUND! HOUSE! NOW!"

"Already there!" Came the reply from the porch. Glenn and Maggie must be involved in the moment as they were. A second later the door to the trailer closed behind them and Daryl was up like a shot, picking her up with him as he went. He spun around and planted her in the seat.

"Don't. Fuckin. Move." he growled, leaving Amber wide eyed and trembling.

Daryl stalked over to the side of the truck and flipped the clean sheet covered mattress up into the bed in one motion. He then slung open the passenger door, rummaged in the glove box for a second before palming two foil packets and shoving them roughly into the back pocket of his jeans. Two seconds later he was towering over Amber as she sat like she had been told. The positively evil (in a positively WONDERFUL way) grin that crossed his face made her shiver and sent a rush of wetness straight to the crotch of those shorts. Apparently, 'shy Daryl' had taken a plane out of the country leaving her with 'Mr. Can't Control Himself'.

Daryl reached down and and hitched her up over his shoulder easily and headed to the truck.

"Daryl!" she squealed, head hanging down his back. He slapped her ass hard and then turned his head and finally sunk his teeth into the plump cheek nearest his face. This time he was rewarded with a moan before he dumped her onto the mattress at the tailgate.

Daryl reached down and slipped the big buck knife from the sheath at his waist and held the blade sideways in his teeth so he could use his hands to pull himself up into the truck bed. Twenty four hours ago this woman in front of him was just a friend.

But tonight he was going to fuck her through the bed of that truck and into the ground.


	18. Save a motorcycle (Ride a Redneck)

_I'm a thouroughbred, that's what she said,_

_In the back of my truck bed_

_As I was gettin' buzzed on suds_

_Out on some back country road_

_We were flying high, fine as wine, _

_having ourselves a big and rich time_

_And I was going about as far as she'd let me go_

_But her evaluation of my cowboy reputation_

_Had me beggin' for salvation all night long_

_So I took her out giggin frogs, introduced her to my old bird dog,_

_And sang her every Willie Nelson song I could think of_

_And we made love..._

_-Save a horse (Ride a cowboy) by Big & Rich_

"Go ahead, cut'em off."

Amber was laid back on the mattress, propped up on her elbows looking at the man who had just hopped up onto the truck bed. She had known what Daryl wanted to do the second he went for his knife. He crawled up between her legs as she spread them wide, looking for all the world like he was a wolf and was about to eat her up.

That's what she was hoping for.

Daryl sat back on his boots and took the knife out from between his teeth. Amber watched his face as he was intent between her legs. She felt the flat of the blade slip slowly between the tender skin where her inner thigh joined her body and the crotch of her shorts. Any other man would have made her nervous doing this but not Daryl. She had watched him work with that knife and knew he could control it like an extension of his own body. She had also watched him clean it meticulously after skinning the snake.

Cold steel slid over her wet and she moaned quietly before hearing the purr of the fabric parting under the razor sharp edge. Then cool night air hit her warm sex as Daryl brought the knife back up to his face. He passed it under his nose, inhaling deeply, and then slid the side of the blade over his tongue and groaned.

"Fuckin' sweet pussy..."

Amber went to the top ties of her bathing suit top, untying it and then moved her arms behind her to untie the back. She was pretty sure Daryl would cut that off of her too if she didn't have it off by the time her shorts were gone. The suit was new and she didn't want to lose it. The blade returned to her body, this time the outside of one hip, moving down, cutting the worn denim. By the time she pulled the pink triangles off and threw them to the side, the shorts were in two pieces, jerked roughly away from her body and thrown over Daryl's shoulder.

"Shit..." he murmured, leaning forward to get a closer look as one calloused thumb ghosted over the smooth hairless skin directly above her slit. Apparently, shaved pussy was a new experience for Daryl Dixon. Amber looked down and he looked up at her and smirked before crawling up her body.

His mouth crashed down on hers and they both were all tongue and teeth. The hand that wasn't supporting himself squeezed her hip and then moved upward, firmly sliding over her stomach until it reached it's goal, a full breast, heavy in his palm. Her own hands slid up under his wife beater and clutched at his back before sliding around front to tease his nipples with her nails. He stiffened on top of her and his teeth sunk into her lower lip before he pulled back a little, his hand leaving her breast to go behind his head to pull at the black wife beater.

"No, you don't..." Amber gasped.

"Yeah, I do. I ain't fuckin' ya with my goddamn shirt on. I'm tired of that shit."

Daryl ripped the shirt from his body in one motion, throwing it wherever all the rest of their clothes were. Amber was presented with a vision of the "kink" she had for her whole adult life, a hot shirtless man wearing jeans and a leather belt as he was over her. She realized with a start that he was still wearing his boots too and that just completed the picture for some reason. Real life was a whole hell of a lot better than all the fantasies. Daryl looked down at her face and Amber saw the self consciousness flash just under the surface. Her hands smoothed over his chest and stomach and she looked up at him to murmur.

"Perfect...just perfect."

Amber meant it. The scars did nothing to detract, even though she would make them all disappear if she could, if only to spare him the scars he bore inwardly. The shiny lines served to make him what he was, not a pretty boy in a magazine but a real man, strong and rough. It was what she had been waiting on her whole life.

Daryl must have believed her because his hunger blazed even stronger then. He dove into her breasts with a snarl, his tongue assaulting them until he came upon the pink pearl at one peak. He drew it into his mouth and sucked hard, causing Amber to shudder underneath him as she clutched at his hair. Then his tongue and teeth began to work it until she was reduced to quivering as she whimpered his name. He switched to the other breast, repeating his actions while his hand drifted down. His fingers slipped over the smooth skin of her mound and then slid between between her wet folds. She jerked against him when he slipped over her clit and he chuckled against her chest before withdrawing his fingers.

Now, Daryl Dixon had never considered himself one to eat pussy. But as soon as he tasted Amber on his knife his opinion on that subject changed drastically. That second, it became number one on his list to get his head between those full thighs of hers. He headed down her stomach, tongue and lips blazing a trail as she squirmed beneath him. He didn't lay between her legs, he knelt and sat back on his heels. Then he ran his rough hands down her legs to the underside of her thighs and jerked her up until her legs were over his shoulders, his hands holding her up under her ass, and the only part of her on the mattress was her head and shoulders. Amber arched her back and moaned.

"Oh...God...Daryl...please."

"Shhhh..." he murmured before running his tongue over the tendon between her inner thigh and pelvis. "Daddy's got ya, gonna take care a'that sweet pussy..." he didn't even have the wherewithal to be embarrassed. Daryl had certainly never been one for dirty talk before either, but his only concern then was only inches from his lips, pink and wet.

Amber moaned even louder at his words, and Daryl buried his mouth in her, finding a talent he didn't know he had. It's not like he didn't understand the mechanics of the situation. He had just never met a woman he wanted to do it for.

Daryl took his time mapping her, top to bottom and back again, thoroughly enjoying himself every inch of the way. His tongue circled her clit, teasing, until Amber begged, but he just chuckled and continued the sweet torment. He traced down and entered her with his tongue, groaning at the tightness as she cried out in pleasure. Finally, Daryl took pity on her and sucked on the tiny bundle of nerves, flicking the tip of his his tongue over it firmly.

Amber went off like a rocket, hands tangled in his hair. Her hips bucked in his hands as she shrieked, actual words impossible during the best orgasm of her life. Only when she went limp in his hands did he finally release her with an obscene slurp.

Daryl let her down, taking just a second to remove his boots and pants before sliding back up her quivering body. When she finally came to herself, he was holding her jaw in his broad hand as his tongue worked in her mouth and his scruff rubbed deliciously against her soft skin. She groaned, tasting herself in his mouth and turned to allow him even more access. One of her legs hooked over his hip and she ground her sex against his cock as it throbbed, trying to give him access.

"Hold up..." he murmured and reached for his jeans with one hand but Amber grabbed his wrist.

"I'm on the pill. Was tested for everything after...I found out about him. You don't have to...up to you."

Daryl looked down at her wide eyed and then nodded slowly. He had always used a condom, the thought of being in her with nothing between them was almost too much. He positioned himself between her legs and then remembered how tight she had been just around his tongue. He thought better of the position and scooped Amber up, ending up sitting up with his back to the tool box with her straddling his lap. She braced herself on his shoulders and his hands found her hips as she hovered over the tip of his cock. He was expecting her to sink down slowly, giving her self time to adjust.

Instead she slammed down on him, both of them crying out at the intense fit. Amber breathed through the pinpricks, being filled completely and then some for the first time. Daryl's hands tightened on her hips so hard that she knew there would be bruises. She had always craved a tiny bit of pain with her pleasure and now had a man who could give her what she needed.

"Damn, girl..." Daryl breathed when he finally recovered enough for coherent thought. "So fuckin tight." She was incredibly small, around him like a vice grip lined in velvet. He could feel the head of his cock teasing against the end of her and it was causing nerves to fire he didn't know he had.

She leaned over to whisper in his ear as she smiled. "I may be little, but I'll take every bit you got, I need it." She ran her tongue over the shell of his ear. "I need you."

Amber sat back then and began to grind against him in the same rhythm as during the lap dance. Daryl's hands were free this way, so he let them travel where they would, learning every inch of her skin as she rode him. He focused on her, knowing he needed the distraction from the intense pleasure. He found she preferred firm strokes over soft as she got closer to her end, getting louder and more intense the rougher he handled her. He rolled her nipples firmly in his fingers and she moaned loudly and then braced her hands on the metal behind him to begin riding him in full force.

Daryl dug his hands into her hips and began assisting her motion, picking her up and then slamming her down, knowing she was close. There was no chance he would be able to last any further, just the thought of her tightening down around him almost sending him over.

The moment Daryl felt her begin to twitch around him and heard her begin to keen low in her throat he brought his hand from Amber's hip around to her ass and smacked it sharply, growling "Now, girl!"

That sent her flying over the edge, the vice tightened another round and she leaned forward, biting him sharply on the shoulder as her hips stuttered over him. The intense pleasure around his cock coupled with the sweet pain of her bite exploded together in his gut, spilling hot into her. Daryl's head snapped back as he filled the night with a string of curses coupled with her name.

They sat like that a long time, her head on his shoulder and his tipped back on the tool box as their breathing returned to normal. She kissed the bite mark and murmured "Sorry." Daryl just grinned shyly and shrugged. "S'alright. Liked it. Ya shoulda told me ya liked it rough." Amber detected a hint of red in his cheeks at that, even after what they had shared and it brought forth a feeling in her chest that she didn't dare name right then.

"You should have told me you could do that with your mouth."

Amber climbed off his lap slowly to grab the top sheet from the foot of the mattress and flip it over them as he scooted down to lay behind her, his chest to her back and his arm over her waist as he curled around her.

"You want a cigarette?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm good. 'night." he murmured into her hair.

Amber grinned into the dark, "Goodnight...daddy." and then felt the blush burn in his cheeks against the skin of her neck.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for all the support! I want to make it clear that I don't mean anything homophobic by Amber's ex being gay. I just needed something that would shock Daryl and make her ex not a threat. **

**Amber's daddy is made after my real daddy so I guess this is my Father's Day tribute to him.**

It took a little bit for Amber to realize the hands slipping over her skin weren't a dream. It only became real when she smelled the mix of smoke, leather, and man that was Daryl. His calloused fingers were exploring her skin, not only her breasts but carressing her back, stomach, and hips. She pushed her ass back against the hard length that was pressing against it and he stilled.

"You awake?" he asked into her hair, voice low and full of sleep.

"Nope." she whispered back. "You got a plan to wake me up?"

He grunted. "Smart ass." But his hands started moving again, the rough skin giving her goose bumps. They were still laying like when they went to sleep and it was still dark. Amber just kept her eyes closed and gave into the sensations. He pushed her hair up off her shoulders and neck and began to kiss and nip the tender skin there from behind.

Daryl cupped each of her breasts in turn and lightly teased the nipples until they were rock hard. His other hand was twisting a strand of her hair lazily. He had never been with any woman more than once and was planning on taking his time now.

Once she was thoroughly frustrated, making little noises that drive him crazy, his hand left her breasts to trace slow circles across her stomach. Amber hitched her hips keeping up their motion against his cock, trying to encourage him to go faster. But if anything, he slowed his pace taking his sweet time before dropping any lower.

Amber turned her head over her shoulder. "Daryl, quit teasing!" she pleaded breathlessly. His only answer was a slow kiss, his tongue working her mouth at the same speed his hand worked her body. When his fingers finally found her core, she was already dripping wet, beyond ready for him. He slid over her clit and her hips bucked forward then, desperate for friction. He kept his slow pace for a long time, until Amber brought her own hand behind her to grip him. Daryl hissed and sped up his fingers, matching her as she stroked him.

Finally, he entered her with one thick middle finger while using his thumb on her clit. Amber used the hand that wasn't stroking his cock to begin rolling one of her nipples. She shook her head, needing more.

"Daryl, please...use two...your killing me..."

He smirked in the dark and removed his hand from between her legs entirely despite her frustrated sounds. He moved her hand off him and lifted her top leg, moving his top one in between her thighs. Amber realized what he was doing and arched her back and curled her leg back over his as much as she could to give the correct angle.

Daryl pushed into her from behind in one swift movement and Amber gave a small cry as he buried his face in her hair.

"That better?" he asked tensely.

"Smart ass." she answered with a wavering voice. He waited until she began to squirm against him before he began moving, a controlled thrusting while she rolled her hips against him. He snagged her hands and led them to her breasts, wanting her to touch herself. She gladly obeyed, and opened her thighs wider when his hand crept back down to her clit. He resumed his earlier pace, keeping up with his thrusting.

In only a minute or two she began to twitch and tighten up around him and he sped up his hand and cock. When she came, it was with a low moan and she trembled, her whole body seeming to vibrate against him.

Daryl fought to hold on, taking her all the way through her release. Once she relaxed he moved his hand from between her legs and curled his arm around her hips to give himself leverage to thrust harder. It was only a moment before he felt it building, coiling low in his stomach. When it took him over, the intensity of the orgasm was a surprise, robbing him of his voice to leave him grimacing into her neck while shuddering violently.

Afterward, Daryl rolled over onto his back and Amber turned to him, laying her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and they fell back asleep as he twisted her hair in his fingers.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDA

The morning air was already humid when Daryl woke up. He guessed it was still pretty early judging by the thin light and the fact the sun hadn't topped the hill to the east of the pond. Amber was sprawled across his stomach, the first two fingers of his right hand still tangled in a black strand. He unwrapped her hair carefully and slid out from under her.

"Where you goin'?" she mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"Jus' gonna take a piss, be right back." he answered while slipping on his wife beater and boxers.

He sat on the tailgate for a minute, clearing his sleep bleary eyes before locating his boots a couple of feet away to slip them on, not bothering to tie the laces. He rambled over to the front of the truck to do his business then returned, leaning over the side of the truck bed to rummage in his clothes.

"Cigarettes?" Amber asked, without opening her eyes or moving.

"Yeah."

"They're over here." She stuck out her arm and pulled the pack and the lighter out from under the mattress. "Want me to light it?"

He nodded. "Tastes better."

Amber smirked, she had already planned to. She finally opened her eyes and sat up. Daryl drew a sharp breath when the sheet fell away from her body, revealing her full breasts in the daylight.

She lit and handed him his cigarette and he took it like always, ducking his head to take it with his mouth instead of his hand. That was quickly becoming a comfortable routine.

She chuckled quietly and crawled to meet him at the tail gate as he walked over. The rest of the sheet fell away and she came up on her knees and put her arms around his neck as one of his arms circled her waist. He turned his head to blow the smoke away from her face as he flicked the ashes away to the ground. She kissed him then and it surprised him, he figured she would wait until he was done.

The kiss was slow and deep, perfect for the early morning. His hand moved down to give her ass a squeeze. Then he pulled away, nodding to the house.

"Ya best be careful, I'd hate ta have ta beat the shit outta Short Round for sneakin a peek."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, they won't be up for at least another hour."

Daryl hitched himself up to sit on the tailgate and Amber sat on her knees behind him with her head on his shoulder and arms around his chest. They just enjoyed the quiet closeness as he smoked. When he flicked the butt of the cig expertly into the fire pit she spoke.

"Uhg, I need a shower."

Daryl turned and pulled her into his lap and made a show out of sniffing her neck.

"Smell fine to me." He ran his hand down her body, stopping to tighten his hand around her breast before moving it to the base of her neck to pull her to him. The kiss started to get heated and Daryl went to move them back to their makeshift bed.

"Uh-uh. Sorry, not until I bathe. Then you can get me all dirty again, I promise."

Daryl huffed and Amber grinned. He looked for all the world like a little boy who had been told no ice cream until after dinner.

"I'll have to wait until they get up and come out."

"Well, how's that shit gonna work since I cut up yer shorts?" He looked over at the pond and then back at her . "Besides, ya got water right there."

Amber pondered that for a minute and nodded. She climbed out of his lap and grabbed her phone. Daryl watched her as she sent a message.

"What're ya doin now?"

"Texted Maggie to grab me some clothes and us some towels and soap."

"Us?"

"Well, I'm not getting in by myself."

Daryl grinned then. Maybe he could get her all dirty while they got clean. It sounded like a good plan.

A few minutes later Amber's backpack flew out the trailer door to land on the porch. Daryl grabbed it and made his way back to the truck, holding it at arms length. It was bright pink, of course. Amber was already sliding off the tailgate, wrapped in the sheet. He grabbed his clean clothes out of the cab of the truck and they made their way to the water.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

They had both washed, and he had just finished taking her against one of the pylons of the dock when he heard the engine. Daryl brought his head up from her shoulder.

"Whats that? Anybody supposed to be here?"

"Not that I know of." she answered nervously, slipping her legs from around his waist and swimming to where there towels were.

"Sounds like a bike."

Amber turned to him wide eyed. "Oh God."

He joined her and pulled himself up onto the dock, grabbed his towel, and pulled her up behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Amber was drying almost franticly. "Oh God," she repeated "The only other person who rides and would be here besides you is my daddy."

Daryl started moving a lot quicker then himself.

They were able to dry and throw some clothes on before the motorcycles roared over the dam. The riders had take the path through the garden gates so it took them longer. Daryl stood to the side of the truck nervously, there was no hiding the mattress in the back of his truck or the clothes scattered around it. He ran his hands through his wet hair to get rid of the 'I just fucked your little girl' look. That was one advantage of fucking women in your truck outside the local bar. You were less likely to run into their fathers.

Amber nudged him and looked up. "Hey, relax. I'm a grown up. Besides Mama will probably be happy. This whole thing was kind of her whole idea, remember?"

"Yeah. Whose on the second bike?"

"That," Amber sighed, "is my brother. He's the one you need to worry about."

The lead bike pulled up along side them. The bright yellow Harley Ultra Glide was sweet, Daryl found himself admiring it despite his nerves. Amber's mama hopped off the bitch seat and removed her helmet. She only had to glance around for a second at the bed of the truck and their wet hair before a sly grin covered her face. She turned back to her husband who had cut off the bike and walked over.

Daryl recognized this guy as the real deal when it came to bikers. He was a couple of inches shorter than Daryl and heavier, but still obviously strong. He was wearing leathers and a do rag covered in skulls. His forearms were inked up and a white fu-manchu style mustache hung a couple of inches below his chin. Daryl was pretty sure he saw a cross carry gun holster under the man's vest.

"Hey, Daddy!" Amber ran over to her father and hugged him excitedly. Completely at odds with the way he looked, the man hugged her back warmly.

"How are ya, Pooshie?"

Daryl smirked when Amber's father used his and Debra's nickname for her. He had heard her mom use it several times in the last week and knew it embarrassed her.

"Daddy, this is Daryl. Daryl, this is my daddy, Barry."

"Hello, son. Debbie's told me a lot about you." Barry offered his hand and Daryl shook it awkwardly. He had no clue how to handle this shit. He was pretty sure her daddy was making a point not to notice the mattress or anything else incriminating, which was encouraging though.

"Hey Maggie!" Debra called over their shoulders and they turned to see Maggie and Glenn leaning on the railing of the porch.

"Hey Debra!" Maggie called back, obviously amused at the situation.

The second bike had roared up, this one black and bigger than the other. Her brother swung his leg over the seat but didn't walk over, just leaned against the seat with his arms crossed. He was markedly taller than his father, well over six foot, with long dirty blond hair to his shoulders and a full beard and mustache.

"Leon, get your ass over here and quit bein' rude!" Barry barked. Amber tried to make introductions but Leon just nodded tersely and Daryl gave it right back. Her daddy might be alright but her brother was obviously trying to be an asshole.

"So why are y'all over here so early?" Amber finally asked after a few minutes of small talk between herself and her parents. Daryl tried to ignore Leon but the guy was making it really hard.

Debra went to answer but Leon cut in. "Mamaw asked us to check in on you while they were gone." He made a point to look into the bed of the truck. "Looks like a good thing we did."

Daryl bristled, the guy was trying to start something. Both of Barry and Debra gave Leon glares but Amber stepped up between her brother and Daryl.

"Why would you say that? I'm obviously fine. Just had some friends over. Last time I checked I was a grown woman, Leon." Amber's voice was measured, it was clear she had experience dealing with her brothers attitude.

"A grown married woman, little sister." He gestured toward Daryl "Did you tell him that?"

Daryl stepped up behind Amber and slipped his hand to the small of her back. He wasn't sure if that was the correct thing to do but the big fucker was pissing him off with the way he was talking to her.

"Yeah. She told me she caught him fuckin' a man in their bed a year ago. That's right, ain't it?"

Leon narrowed his eyes, he apparently hadn't expected Daryl to speak up.

"She isn't divorced yet. And you ain't been here but a week."

Daryl shrugged, entering what was quickly becoming a pissing contest. "Like she said, she's grown."

"Hey!" Barry interjected "Leon, shut the hell up! This ain't the time!"

"Daddy, really?" Leon spat, eyes not leaving Daryl. "Do you think Mamaw knows she's down here whorin' with the hired he-"

He was cut off abruptly when Daryl's fist connected with his jaw.


	20. Chapter 20

**Huge use of language ahead.**

**I don't own Colt Ford's Cricket on a Line. I hope y'all don't mind me using the country songs when they fit. That's kinda how this fic started, me imaging scenarios while listening to music.**

**Long chapter, I hope y'all enjoy. I hope the story isn't moving too slow for you guys. I just love giving Daryl some normalcy. I promise, tons of drama and stuff ahead eventually.**

"GET THE FUCK UP AND ON YOUR GODDAMN BIKE BEFORE I DECIDE TO HELP HIM KICK YOUR ASS!"

Barry had his son by the collar, jerking him up. Leon stumbled, still woozy from the blow Daryl had dealt him. When he finally found his feet his father planted one black boot in his ass sending him towards his ride.

"Fuck, Daddy! You gonna let them-"

"SHUT UP! I swear to God, one more word about your sister and it won't be goddamn Daryl ya gotta worry about, NOW GO THE FUCK HOME!"

Leon climbed on his bike and it roared to life. He chanced a glare at Daryl before turning it onto the path that led to the dam and off the property. Barry waited until his son was well on his way before turning to where his wife and daughter had jumped in front of Daryl as soon as he threw the punch, expecting the larger man to attack. He had tried to push them out of the way, but froze when Barry jumped his son as soon as he hit the ground.

The older man leveled his gaze on the younger, his expression unreadable. Daryl steeled himself for whatever was coming, no way was he hitting her daddy in front of her, he had fucked up enough by punching her brother.

"You," Barry rubbed his mouth with his finger for a second before waving it at Daryl, "have already impressed me." Daryl tried to not let his mouth fall open in shock. Amber and her mother stepped to the side and the biker stepped up until he was directly in front of the redneck as he stood with fists clenched, breath still heaving from adrenalin.

"It's a good thing you got to him before I did, I would have done a shit ton more than you. He's knows better than to talk about her like that, whether he's my son or not."

Daryl nodded slowly, this was NOT going like he expected. He started to chance a look at Amber but Barry started talking again. "I can tell you care about my little girl already, or else you wouldn't have taken on the big dumbass. But let me tell you something else..." Barry paused for dramatic effect. "My baby girl has been through a lot of shit lately, you get that?"

Daryl croaked out a "Yessir." This was uncharted territory, he found himself torn between being happy the man realized what his son had done versus feeling his nuts crawl up his neck waiting for what was coming next. Daryl Dixon had never backed down from a fight, but this dude was fucking scary, on far deeper than a physical level. Were all daddy's like this when it came to their daughters? No wonder Merle had never gotten serious with anyone, he liked his balls attached.

"Right. So I hope you understand when I say this Daryl. If you hurt her, " he gestured toward Amber "me and a whole bunch of my friends will find you, wherever you are, and we will fuck you up. Bad. Understand me?"

"Daddy!" Amber hissed from their left.

Daryl shook his head at her. "No. S'alright." He turned back to her father and nodded solemnly. It was the only response that seemed appropriate.

"Good." Barry said, "Now that I know we understand one another, you have my word her brother won't cause any trouble, either with you directly or with Debbie's parents. Just remember what I said."

Barry turned toward his wife and jerked his head toward the bike, "C'mon, I ain't had breakfast yet. Waffle House is waitin'."

TWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWDTWD

"Did that shit really just happen?"

Glenn was hopping around the kitchen, looking for all the world like a coked up bunny rabbit when Amber and Daryl made their way into the house after her parents pulled away. Maggie was calmly starting the coffee pot.

"Shut it." Daryl growled before slumping onto a stool at the bar. The couch was still pulled out to a bed and there was no way he was sitting on those sheets knowing what had been done on them, probably multiple times.

"Here, let me see it." Amber held her hand out, motioning to Daryl's battered fist. He clutched it tighter. "S'fine."

"The hell it is, now hand it over, dammit!" Her eyes flashed and Daryl saw a little of her daddy in them. He sighed and let her take his hand, wincing as she moved each knuckle in turn.

"Mags, get me some ice." she said over her shoulder.

"On it." Maggie started rummaging through drawers, finding a plastic bag and filling it from the freezer. She handed it to Amber who wrapped a dishtowel around it and placed it gingerly over Daryl's knuckles.

"Here, hold it on there. I've gotta start breakfast. I'll wrap your hand after we eat."

Maggie and Glenn poured their coffee and went out to the porch to drink it, giving Amber and Daryl their privacy.

"She coulda helped ya cook." Daryl noted bitterly.

"You don't want to eat anything Maggie Greene cooks." Amber answered while pulling pans out of the cabinets. "It pushed her kitchen skills just fixin' that ice pack."

He watched her silently for a few minutes, strangely finding solace in the way Amber moved effortlessly in the kitchen, occasionally muttering under her breath as the meal came together under her hands. She started to roll out biscuits and he got up from the stool, moving to lean on the counter at her side while keeping the ice in place. He had few memories of his Mama, but watching her make biscuits was one of them.

"Thank you." Amber said quietly, not looking up.

"Pffft." Daryl scoffed. "Weren't nothing. Shoulda whipped his ass."

She stopped and looked at him, a sad smile on her face as she slowly shook her head. "You don't get it do you? You're the first man, besides my daddy, that's cared enough about me to risk a beating. And now you've done it twice in one weekend."

Daryl shrugged, looking down at the biscuits as she placed them in the iron skillet. What was he supposed to say to that?

"My brother is a whole lot worse than Shane too. You heard the saying 'The type to bring a gun to a knife fight.'?"

"Yeah." He had heard it used to describe Merle plenty.

"Well, Leon's the type to bring a knife to a fist fight. He was reaching for it as he fell. If daddy hadn't been here..." her voice wavered and he looked up as she quickly moved to the sink to wash her hands. "Dammit Daryl! He would have gutted you before you could go for your knife or I could have stopped him."

Tears were running down her face as she dried her hands. She was crying, over him. As far as Daryl knew, no one had ever cried over him before and he suddenly felt like his heart was being wrung out like a dishrag. He gathered her up in his arms, not knowing what to say to fix it, to make her stop. Amber wrapped her arms around his waist like she had after the snake and held on for dear life. Daryl just rested his chin on her head as she shook against him, wishing he was a better man, that he knew how to be what she needed.

"You can't get hurt for me." she finally whimpered against his chest.

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, if I don't take care a ya , yer daddy's gonna fuck me up. So I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't."

She laughed weakly and slapped his chest. "He likes you, you know."

"Yeah, I don't want ta see what he'd do if he didn't."

Amber looked up at him seriously, "Trust me, you don't. Daddy's calmed down a lot since he took on responsibility at the club. But he's done things he's not proud of. Things that would make moonshine running look like a day at the park."

Daryl believed that. It didn't matter anyway. He was neck deep in whatever this was with Amber before he met the man. If Daryl ever hurt her, he knew he would cut his own throat before her daddy got the chance.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

The rest of the day went fairly uneventfully compared to that morning. After breakfast, Amber had suggested that Daryl dig some of her Papaws fishing rods out of the barn so he and Glenn could catch their supper. Glenn had then offered to go buy some worms at the local bait shop which had sent Daryl into a fit of laughter, the first Amber had ever heard from him. After recovering, he had given a profanity laced lesson on how to dig worms up in the garden. He had also banned the women from swimming, saying it would scare the fish off.

He and Glenn fished on opposite sides of the dock, each with their respective woman sunbathing next to them. Daryl had a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, a beer sitting next to him and would draw in another fish every so often to add it to the string hanging in the water under his boots. When he was sure Glenn or Maggie weren't looking he would reach over to cop a feel of baby oiled titty or ass over Amber's suit depending on how she was laying at the moment. He wasn't okay with public shit just yet but she didn't seem to mind, just grinning behind her sunglasses whenever she felt his hand and pouting playfully when he snatched it away. Amber reached for the remote to the music player she had brought out, looking for a song. When he heard the words start up he rolled his eyes.

"That shit ain't country."

"Coulda fooled me." Maggie said from across the dock.

"What is it?" Glenn asked innocently.

"Short Round, when ya gonna grow outta bein a yankee?" Daryl asked playfully as he jerked his rod to set the hook into another nice sized catfish.

"Probably the same day you grow out of being a redneck." Glenn shot back.

Daryl raised his middle finger over his shoulder as Amber laughed. This was starting to feel normal, and it scared him a little when he stopped to think. Normal for him had always been pain, and fists, either his own or another's. Normal definitely wasn't fishing for the first time in years, with smokes, cold beer, and a warm willing woman. But right then it felt like it, and Amber did have a knack for picking the right music for the moment, despite him hating that country rap shit.

_I got a cricket on a line and a bottle of 'shine_

_A whippoorwill whistlin', everything is fine_

_Got my plow boy bunny sittin' by my side_

_What else does a country boy need to survive_

Daryl hear footsteps creeping up and saw Amber's eyes flick behind him. He waited and then quickly turned when Glenn rushed him. He grabbed the guy's arm with one hand and flipped him into the water without even dropping his fishing rod. Glenn came up cursing. Daryl just hitched up his line of fish with a smirk and made his way to the trailer after calling to Amber over his shoulder. "C'mon. I thought you was gonna fry these up after I clean'em!"

_Lord have mercy, here we are_

_Middle of a field, who needs a bar_

_This here is a country party, _

_y'all get drunk and be somebody_

_I know you like my southern drawl,_

_How I say yes ma'am and y'all_

_That's in my dna,_

_ Good God A'mighty is what I say_

_When I see those skirts and boots_

_Fat bottomed girls in daisy dukes_

_They sweeter than momma's cobbler_

_Hold on a minute, somethin's pullin' my bobber_

_I think I got a bite_

_Heat up the grease, fish fry tonight._

Fried fish, baked beans, potato salad, slaw, and then a damn blackberry cobbler. Plus every time he turned around Amber was refilling his plate. Daryl didn't know what he ever did to deserve his woman (his woman? did he really just think that?) being such a good cook but he decided to just go with it. It was like everything else that had happened the last couple of days. If he thought about it, tried to examine it too much it just might disappear like a dream you wake up from just when you get to the best part.

Glenn and Maggie had just pulled out, leaving him and Amber alone next to the dwindling fire. Daryl pulled her into his lap and just sat there for a long time, watching the fire. He then sighed, knowing he had to go, expecting her grandparents to return soon.

"Best get back home. Yore Paw don't need ta see me here late."

"Daryl..."

"Ya know he'll fill my ass with buckshot if he thinks I'm sleepin here. And I don't want yore Maw ta give ya shit cause a me."

Amber turned in his lap and kissed him hard. "Would you please listen! Daryl, camp meeting lasts until Tuesday! They won't be home for two more days!"

Daryl's eyebrows shot up and Amber laughed. "Well, so..." he started and stopped himself. He didn't want to invite himself, maybe she was tired of him and wanted some space.

"So," Amber continued for him "you're welcome to stay if you want to. You know, IF you want to..." Amber grinned and wiggled against his lap.

So much for space.

His hands went to her waist as he went to stand but she pushed them away.

"Don't you dare pick me up! Your hand is still banged up!"

He smacked her ass hard with his good hand and growled "Then ya best get that sweet ass of yore's in the house, I got shit ta do tonight!"

She took off running, Daryl hot on her heels. This may have been just a dream, but he'd be damned if he woke up just yet.

_I got my plow bunny sittin' by my side_

_What else does a country boy need to survive..._


	21. Chapter 21

**Oh, gravy! I had a little talk with another fanfic writer last night, and she helped me figure out where this fic is going. Wow! I have been flailing in Dixon badassery all night, let's just put it that way. Just so you know, this fic is NOT headed to being a crossover, okay? So hold on, might take a little to get there but it's gonna be worth it!**

Amber was jerked from her slumber by the alarm on her phone. She tried to turn to the nightstand to grab it but was prevented by the well muscled weight that was wrapped around her.

"Daryl...c'mon...let me get that..."

"Mmmm..." and him clutching her tighter were the only reply.

Her phone still screeched, so she pried his hands off her waist despite his protests and shut it off. She sat up on the side of the bed, and his hand drifted over her back. She felt him drop a sweet kiss on the top of her right ass cheek as his head lay on the bed only to bite down on the same spot a second later.

"Ow! Dammit!" Amber reached around to slap at him only to have her wrists grabbed. She twisted away and Daryl moved up to lay with his head next to her right thigh, obviously enjoying the view of her breasts from below.

"We gotta get up." she said, running a hand through his unruly hair.

"Fuck." he huffed quietly.

"Yes we did, several times. Now it's time to eat and then work."

Daryl grinned sleepily, "How 'bout we stay in bed and I eat?"

Amber shook her head and laughed, despite a different part of her nodding emphatically. "You're so nasty."

Daryl shrugged, " Wasn't s'nasty when ya was screamin' my name last night. So what do I got ta do today, boss?"

"Shop's closed until they get back, but Papaw left a list of parts he wants you to go see if the junkyard has. The owners are good friends of mama and daddy's, you'll like'em."

Daryl nodded and motioned toward his cigarettes where they lay on her nightstand with his lighter and the ashtray he used the night before. Amber reached over and knocked the pack against her hand, pulled one out and lit it before giving it to him.

"We've got to go get you some work uniforms."

"Already got some."

"New ones Daryl. You know, without holes in the knees. Papaw has an account at the shop, so we just have to go pick them up."

He reached over to flick the ash into the ashtray. "He's gotta quit payin' for shit. I ain't spent a dime since I started here, sides our supper at Jake's."

"You're doing more work than we usually get out of two hands. Trust me, he's getting a bargain. He'll have to hire another soon, for temporary help while he gets the hay in."

Daryl blew two perfect smoke rings that drifted for a minute near Amber's knees before disappearing. "He gonna be pissed if I cut the sleeves out?"

"I'll run interference. I'd hate to cover up all that beautiful arm porn."

Daryl snorted. "Whatever. Just get's fuckin hot in the shop."

"I've got to pay some bills too, since they aren't here to do it. I figured that instead of breakfast here we could eat out."

Daryl smirked up at her. "Done told ya..." Amber cut him off with her hand over his mouth.

"Don't even start. Shower, now."

"Ya gonna join me?"

"Fuck, Daryl..."

"That's tha idea."

Amber rolled her eyes. "C'mon then." She got up and made her way to the bathroom, trying to act exasperated despite the party that was being thrown between her legs.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber rubbed her thighs together as she sat on the bench seat of the truck beside Daryl. The throb in between them was a not-unpleasant reminder of their activities over the last day and a half. He was able to satisfy her like no man ever had, while making her hungry for more.

She was giving him directions to the road to the junkyard when her phone went off. She read the text message from her mother and then quickly cleared the screen, swallowing hard. She wasn't expecting that, not this fast. Daryl just had gotten comfortable with what they had.

"What was that?" he asked, eyes flicking over to her as she shoved the phone into her pocket.

"Nothing. Just mama asking if we were up and about." Amber answered almost too quickly. She needed to talk to someone who understood before letting Daryl know what the message was about. Good thing they were headed to just the right place for that.

The truck crunched up the gravel road that led to the house, parking in front of the porch. Amber jumped out as soon as he cut the engine off and motioned for Daryl when he hesitated to get out. They were almost to the porch when the screen door flew open, and a woman came out, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. She was curvy and had hair almost as dark as Amber's, except hers hung in tight ringlet curls.

"Amber! I didn't know you were headed over, girl!

"Hey Mama Kaye! Yeah, Papaw wants us to pick up some parts."

"This must be this Daryl that I've heard so much about!" Amber shook her head franticly behind Daryl's back as he briefly shook Kaye's extended hand and gave her a barely there "Ma'am"

Kaye got the idea, changing the subject. "I'll go get Norm. He'll take you out back with him while Amber and I catch up for a minute." She disappeared inside, leaving Daryl looking at Amber in near panic.

"Chill out, alright?" she squeezed his hand. "He's really nice, like daddy. Reminds me of you kind of, usually quiet."

Daryl blew out a breath, "Ya know I ain't good at this new people shit."

"You'll do fine. Go play in the grease and car parts. I promise, he won't bite."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

"So you haven't told him yet?"

Kaye placed the cup of coffee in front of Amber at the kitchen table before taking a seat across from her. Norm and Daryl had just left to go out back to look for the parts on the list.

"No, Mama texted me on the way here. What do I do Kaye?"

The older woman smiled "How do you think he's going to react?"

"No clue. He's shy, like painfully. I'm afraid he'll freak out."

"Your daddy told what he knew about him at the meeting last night. Used that 'impressed' line of his."

"Yeah. He's a good man, Kaye. But he's quiet."

"I knew a guy like that once." Kaye said, grinning.

"But Norm was already in the club when y'all got together. This is different. I don't want him to do this thinking it's part of what we have."

"He does ride, right?"

"Yeah. It's a nice bike, and he can handle it well. But, just SHIT! I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting Daddy to move up to president so fast."

"You've been out of town. Things have changed over the last couple of years. Barry wanted to put Norm up for Pres but he wouldn't have it. Said he couldn't do all the talking and networking it entails, that he was just the muscle."

Amber shook her head. "That's bullshit. He could have done it. But that doesn't matter now."

Kaye put her hand on the young woman's arm. "Calm down honey. He's just offering to put him under his protection. It's not like he's trying to patch him in."

"Yet! We both know that is where it leads most of the time. You should have seen the look daddy had when he did that to Leon."

"Yeah," Kaye snickered, "He said he dropped him like a sack of hammers before the big ass knew what hit him."

"And daddy got all up in that 'impressed' shit, and got all 'biker daddy' on him. But I know that look, he wants him in the club and Daryl isn't like that. He hasn't been around it, he's gonna freak out. I can't risk...I WON'T risk losing him, or him getting hurt."

"You need to let him make that decision. We know that protection comes with a price. And I can guess what Barry's asking of Daryl."

Amber looked out the window. Her voice wavered, "Protecting me."

"From what I understand from your daddy and some sources down at the bar, it's a job he was signed up for already."

"Not at this level."

Kaye covered Amber's hand with hers. "So how is he going to react when he finds out that you coming home and your daddy getting president could put you in danger at times."

Amber looked back out where Daryl and Norm were loading the back of the truck.

"Badly. Very badly."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

They rode in silence toward town for five minutes before Daryl spoke up.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Bullshit. Ya ain't talkin, and ya never stop talkin."

Amber pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. This was as good a time as any.

"Here, we're almost to the Waffle House. Pull in there. We can talk while we eat." she put her hand on his leg, seeing the look that passed over his face. "This isn't anything bad about us. I promise. Just some things you need to know.

"Got somethin' ta do with that message from yore mama?"

"Yes." Amber slid from the truck, avoiding any other questions.

She waited until they had ordered their food before bringing it up again. Daryl was looking at her pensively from his side of the booth while tapping his fingers on the rim of his coffee cup.

"You ever heard of the biker gang The Demons?" She wanted to get right to the point, Daryl wouldn't put up with anything else.

He nodded.

"How much do you know?"

"Heard they run guns, other illegal shit."

"That's true, in part." she looked up at Daryl and then back down. "Daddy was voted president of their North Georgia Chapter last night."

His eyebrows shot up. "'kay."

"He want's to..." she paused, searching for the right words."extend his protection to you."

Daryl narrowed his eyes and Amber knew he probably wasn't familiar with the vocabulary she had grown up with.

"It means he has your back, that if anyone messes with you they are messing with him, the whole club. They'll put the word out, nobody can touch you"

"Why would anyone wanna mess with me? Besides yore dumbass brother?"

Amber twisted her napkin over and over, unable to answer or meet his eyes.

"Look at me." Daryl said from around his thumbnail, and she caught herself before reaching across the table to get his cigarettes to light him one. "It's you ain't it. Cause he's the head now. Somebody's comin after ya." Daryl's hand tightened onto a fist.

"No, not necessarily. But it's a possibility. That's why he want's to give you his protection, he wants to ask you something. But you have to understand, this has NOTHING to do with me and you."

"Course it has ta do with us!" Daryl's voice rose at the end and he looked around self consciously. The waitress brought their food and Amber waited until she was gone.

"What I mean is that if you tell him no, you want no part of this, that's not going to change what we have! It's not changing how I feel about you. You've already risked enough for me!"

"He wants me to watch ya, protect ya."

"Daryl, I don't need a bodyguard!"

"Sure as fuck sounds like ya do! How the hell is he alright with this?"

"He was in the club before I was born! He can't just walk away!"

"So what exactly I got ta do?"

"He's not asking you to patch in, like a full member. He's not asking you to break the law. Just keep an eye on me," Amber rolled her eyes. "Which I think is bullshit, I'm a grown ass woman!"

"That's it?"

"You'll have to carry a gun all the time. The bow can't be hidden, and the knife isn't enough."

"I got Merle's .45 I killed the snake with."

"You DON'T have to do this!"

"The fuck I don't." he hissed.

She looked down as Daryl pushed her phone in front of her.

"Tell'im I'm in."


	22. Chapter 22

**Kelizabeth13: I was already writing this when you wrote your request. Great minds think alike.**

Daryl waited until they were done with the errands before bringing up the Demons again. He cranked the truck and lit a cigarette before pulling out.

"Tell me."

Amber looked up at him while his eyes were intent on the road.

"Tell you what?"

"Everything I need ta know about..." he gestured between them " ta keep ya safe."

Amber started out just outlining how the club worked. Her father as president with Norm as his sergeant at arms and what that meant. She left out some other positions and who filled them for simplicities sake. That part didn't concern him, and she was going to do her best to make sure it never did. She did share the fact that Barry and Norm had spent a couple of years in prison for assault when they were younger.

"Who I gotta worry about?"

Amber shrugged. There were alot so she just went over the biggest threats she remembered. There was a rival gang called Le Mechants that were the biggest problem. They were trafficking meth, which was the only thing the Demons refused to touch. Their sergeant at arms had a thing for Kaye, in fact had kidnapped her a few years before, Norm and some others barely getting her back alive. Amber immediately regretted telling Daryl that, seeing how his fists tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. He was thinking of her in that situation.

There were also just the local dealers and whoever the club had pissed off lately. Amber tried to reiterate that people weren't trying to beat down their door everyday when she was younger, and that usually their sources let them know when something was coming. Daryl didn't seem to relax any despite her trying to downplay the situation.

He had smoked his way through several cigarettes while she talked, only occasionally asking one or two word questions. She could practically see his brain overloading as he examined everything that could happen.

When they were on the road to the farm, Daryl pulled the truck into the driveway of the rental house instead of the big house. When he parked, he just sat quietly for a minute as he finished smoking, looking out his window.

"C'mon." Daryl inclined his head toward the bike as he got out and she followed. Amber watched as he pulled the .45 out of the saddle bag, checked the clip and shoved it in the back of his jeans. Then he grabbed his brother's vest, slipping it on over his black tee. Amber choked back tears as she put on her helmet and slid onto the bitch seat behind him. This was too familiar, too close to her youth. Daryl looked like the men she had grown up around, the men of the Demons. The only thing he was missing was the patches on his vest. Many of those men were dead now, victims of the life they lead. It made her sick, knowing he had made his choice to be a part of it, even as just her protector.

They rode for a long time, back roads like the night at Jake's. Amber wasted no time curling around him, hands clasped over his stomach. His body practically vibrated with tension and she mentally willed it into herself, into the bike, the road, anything but Daryl. The asphalt fell away and she started to stroke his stomach over his shirt, the only soothing action she could do at the moment. The muscles were tight, like metal under her fingertips. After a while, Daryl reached down for a second to untuck the front of his shirt. Amber took the hint and slipped her hands under the fabric, the heat from his skin radiating into her palms. She traced each individual muscle, as they slowly lost some of the tension as did the rest of his body.

Finally Daryl turned into an old logging road and babied the Triumph down it, out of sight of the main road. He stopped the bike and Amber was half off before he slipped his own helmet off and kicked down the stand. She knew what he wanted.

As soon as she stepped to the side he reached for her, she stopped him long enough to slip out of her jeans and boots. Then he hitched her up and over the bike, straddling him. He tore her tank top off and then her bra before filling his fists with her hair and yanking her mouth down to his. She gave it back to him full force, sinking her teeth into his bottom lip causing him to growl before forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Daryl licked and bit his way down her throat to her chest, pushing her back onto the handle bars. Amber lay back on them as he leaned over her releasing his tension onto her body. He assaulted her breasts, nipping and then sucking her nipple into his mouth hard. Amber moaned beneath him and grabbed at his hair. When she pulled it he groaned and bit just enough to send a bolt of lightening to her core.

He jerked her up suddenly and Amber's hands went to his belt as her tongue fought his for dominance above. Before she could get his cock out he suddenly shoved two fingers into her, his thumb working her clit hard. She shrieked and stiffened above him. His mouth found one of her nipples and his free hand the other, sucking and pinching as she could do nothing but clutch at his shoulders.

Daryl ripped Amber's orgasm from her body in less than a minute. She screamed and bucked wildly as he dominated her totally. Even when she went to move his hand away he worked her, grabbing her wrist with his other hand to push it away.

"Again!" he commanded.

"I can't...please...I can't..." she nearly wept, twisting in his grip.

"Goddammit, yes you can!" Daryl moved his hand from her breast to pull his cock fully free of his pants. Then he wrapped that hand and arm around her waist to grasp the opposite hip. As he lifted her up, his other hand pulled his fingers from her with a wet pop but kept the thumb in place, just twisting his wrist to get out of the way. Then he dropped her onto him, straining. The shoulder and arm he used to lift her would be sore the next day but that was no concern to him then.

"FUCK!", Daryl roared when her still pulsing heat encased him suddenly.

Amber was jerking in time to the rhythm on her clit and cried out sharply when he dropped her onto him. She was powerless now, slumped over him as he worked her. Daryl stood from the bike seat, heels of his boots digging into the earth as he sought greater depth.

"Do it, dammit! Fuckin' come for me!" he spat, needing her wet heat to pull his own release from him. Amber began to jitter against and around him and he sped his hand up, ruthless in his drive. She was cramming her face into his shoulder and he snapped his head over, offering up his neck since the other was covered by fabric and leather.

When Amber came that time, she bit him, tasting iron. Her hands scratched at skin they had somehow found between Daryl's shirt and the waistband of his jeans as her body convulsed violently. She clamped down and it was as if he left his own body, pulled into her. He came up on his toes for a second and balanced tenuously, nearly dumping the bike. There was no cursing or calling her name, just unintelligible syllables that bounced off the trees around them.

As suddenly as the violence and frenzy came, they were gone. Daryl collapsed down on the bike seat, overworked legs shaking as his arms cradled her. Amber was lost, limp and eyes half closed.

"Sweet girl...so good...my sweet girl..." Daryl soothed, his fingertips tracing light circles on the skin of her back. She seemed to come to after a few minutes and he swung his leg over the bike to set Amber on wavering legs just long enough to fix his own pants and then gently help her dress. He picked her up and set her on the bike, awkwardly lifting his leg over in front of her to sit in the seat.

When he cranked the engine her hands tightened around his waist and he winced knowing the vibration under them was irritating her overstimulated and tender flesh. But there was nothing he could do, no other way to get them home.

"You okay to hold?" he asked over his shoulder. Amber nodded in between his shoulder blades and he pulled out slowly. Every few minutes he would sneak a hand down to tighten hers at his waist, afraid she would fall asleep.

Luckily, they weren't far from the farm and soon he was pulling into the carport next to Amber's trailer. She slipped off the bike and swayed as she stood next to it. Daryl stood and took off his helmet, then her own. He cradled her face in his hands for a second, looking down at her as his thumbs brushed the skin under her closed eyes. For the first time ever, he bent over to kiss her, a soft peck at the corner of her mouth before picking her up, an arm under her knees and the other cradling her to his chest.

Daryl carried Amber into the house and straight to her bedroom as the sun set. He knew she needed to eat, but that would have to wait. She needed to rest right now. He laid her on the bed and then undressed her before stripping off his own clothes and boots to lay at her side between her and the door. His gun lay on the nightstand, within easy reach.

In the waning sunlight, Daryl found every tooth mark, every purpling crescent made by his own hands or mouth and kissed them gently as she slept. She moved toward his touch in her sleep and he ran his hands lightly down her back, over the curve of her ass and back up again, over and over as he murmured promises into her hair.

He would keep her safe.

He would stand between her and those that wanted to hurt her.

And he would die himself before anyone took her away from him.


	23. Chapter 23

Amber slept deep and dreamless that night. When she woke it was to the midmorning sun slanting through her bedroom window and the rattle of pans from the kitchen. She stretched, relishing the soreness of several spots of her body. After slipping on Daryl's t- shirt from where she found it on the floor next to the bed and a clean pair of panties, she padded into the kitchen.

He had his back to her as he stood at the stove. Only wearing his jeans, slung low on his hips, he was quite the vision. Then her eyes traced over the tattoo on his shoulder. Despite it being there long before they met, the warring demons were a reminder of the previous day's events.

_Like he was made for the Demon life_.

She shook her head to clear it of the thought, making it to the bar separating the living area and kitchen before he acknowledged her presence.

"Ya hungry?" Daryl asked as he loaded up two plates with his go to breakfast, eggs and bacon. Amber wondered if he knew how to make anything else.

"Would it matter if I said no?"

"Nope. Ya slept through supper."

He stepped to her side of the bar to set down her plate and Amber tried to snag a kiss. He only allowed her a quick closed mouth one before pointing at her plate and going to fix her coffee. He scowled while adding the large spoonfuls of sugar and the creamer and set the cup to the side of her plate. Only then did he sit in what was quickly becoming his spot. They were almost done eating before she broke the silence.

"We need to go pick up groceries today. For here and the big house since Mamaw won't be back till late."

He nodded and pushed back his plate. Amber automatically reached for his cigarettes and lit one for him. She could tell something was wrong but didn't know how to broach the subject. He hadn't touched her yet, besides the quick kiss that she originated. Half the cigarette was gone before she stood and moved to his side of the bar, standing between his legs. Wrapping her arms around his neck Amber rested her forehead on his but he still looked down at the floor.

"You mad at me?" she asked.

He shook his head once and his answer was so quiet she had to strain to hear it.

"Mad at myself."

Amber frowned in confusion. "For what?"

And then, being Daryl, he showed her instead of telling. His fingers snagged the hem of the t-shirt and slowly pulled it up until her breasts were revealed, on level with his eyes. One hand traced over the teeth marks on the swell of a breast, so gentle that she barely felt the calloused finger tips drag over her skin. Then that hand moved lower, until it covered the five fingered bruise on her hip perfectly.

Amber sighed. So this was it, he thought he had hurt her.

"Well, while we're comparing, this one looks bad too." She moved her own hand over her teeth marks on his neck before dropping her head to kiss it. It really did look worse, one tooth had broken through the skin. Daryl let the shirt fall back down.

"S'different."

"How?"

"I forced ya."

She thought for a minute. "No, you pushed me. Just like I pushed you to go talk and hang out with Norm. How I pushed you to make friends with Glenn and Maggie. I knew you could do it, and would be happy you did. Same thing you did. You knew I could, knew you could bring my body to that level."

Daryl stubbed out the cigarette and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing Amber against his body. He released a deep breath as he laid his head between her breasts. She felt him returning to her and relaxed.

"I'd die before I hurt ya."

"I know."

"I'd kill somebody if they tried..."

"Nobody's going to hurt me, Daryl." she interrupted, not wanting him to finish the sentence. The .45 lay on the bar behind him, seeming to look at her mockingly.

"Hey, I need a shower before we go to town. Want to come help me wash the hard to reach parts?" She tried to lighten the mood a bit.

He snorted into her chest and looked up. "Yeah."

In the shower, he washed her body slowly, almost reverently. When he took her, it was slow and deep and they came together.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl was loading the last of the canned goods into the back of the truck when her phone rang. She frowned at what was on the screen, the phone at the big house was re-directed to her cell while her grandparents were gone. Then she realized why somebody from the West Georgia Correctional facility would be calling the big house.

Merle.

"Hey, I think it's your brother." She tossed Daryl the phone. He answered and Amber tried not to eavesdrop, which was impossible once they both got in the truck and shut the doors. Daryl's responses were one and two words long though, so it was impossible to figure out what was going on. It couldn't be good, because only moments into the call Daryl started chewing on his thumbnail. Amber grabbed his cigarettes and lit one hurriedly. It was an unhealthy habit but the skin around his thumbnail was already bad enough, plus he had so much thrown at him in the last couple of days.

Finally, after a few minutes, Daryl hung up and handed it back.

"Everything okay?"

"No." He cranked the truck and backed out, not offering any more.

"What's happening?"

"He's gettin out." Amber pursed her lips, wouldn't that be a good thing? There was obviously something she was missing.

"So that's good, right? Your going to have to give me something to go on here, Daryl."

"It's bad. He'll fuck everything up."

"Why?"

"Merle's an addict. He's...he's just bad okay?"

"He's your brother, he can't be..."

"He ain't like me, alright!" Daryl ran his hand through his hair as he yelled. He realized his mistake immediately and reached for her hand.

"Look...I'm sorry, alright? He just..."

"We'll handle it, okay? Whatever..."

Amber's phone went off again and she jumped. She dreaded looking to see who it was, lately it seemed like it was always something to complicate her and Daryl's relationship.

"Ya gonna check that?"

"Do I have to?"

"Check the damn message."

Amber read the message. Finally, she and Daryl were catching a break. She had been worried about what they were going to do once her Mamaw and Papaw came home.

"It's daddy."

"Somethin wrong?" She hear the panic in his voice. He was gonna blow a gasket soon if she didn't hurry up and tell him.

"No, everything's fine. He called Mamaw and Papaw at the camp meeting. He let them know about him being elected president."

"How did that shit go over?"

"Like usual, they don't like it. They never have, they worry theirselves sick. He's their son-in-law though."

"So now what?"

"He told them he didn't want me staying alone. That you are going to move in with me for a while."

Daryl's eyebrow shot up. "Did I just lose my job?"

"No, it sounds like he glossed over the...change in our relationship. They think you're sleeping on my couch."

"Ya want me to sleep on the couch?" She eyed him carefully, this was alot in a short amount of time. They were going from sleeping together the first time to living together over the course of five days. Extenuating circumstances or not, it would send most men running for the hills.

"Do you want to sleep on my couch?"

"Closer to tha door, could keep ya safer that way."

Amber looked up as her heart fell, and then saw the hint of a curl at the corner of his lip as he watched the road. He looked over at her and grinned a split second before her fist connected with his upper arm.

"Daryl Dixon, that shit is not funny!"

"Ow, goddammit, that hurt! My arm's still sore from yesterday."

"Oh poor baby, maybe we should lay off the sex for a while."

"Now, that shit ain't funny."

"Exactly! Actually, this gives us an option about Merle. You will still be paying rent on the rental house as part of your job arrangement. So he can live there until he gets a job."

Daryl snorted. "Ain't gonna work, girl. We're already gonna be pushin' yore Paw with me movin' inta the trailer. He ain't gonna geehaw with my brother for sure. And the only job my brother's ever had is selling the same shit he was pushin inta his arm."

"Let me worry about Papaw. You worry about Merle. Now, when do we pick him up?"

"I gotta pick him up around six today. His piece a shit lawyer found some kind a loop hole and he didn't want ta tell me until he was sure he was gettin' out. You ain't goin'."

"Daryl, that means I'll be at home by myself." She hated to play the 'in danger' card but she wasn't about to let him go do this alone.

"Fuck. Alright, but I'm warnin' ya, he's a dick."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber tapped her fingers on the door of the truck as she waited outside the prison. Daryl had refused to let her go in with him, leaving the gun in the drivers seat next to her. She had been surprised that he was willing to leave her alone at all, but he had promised it wouldn't take but a minute for Merle to change into the clothes Daryl had brought him and be discharged. He had checked the locks on the doors twice and then went in. That was twenty minutes ago.

Then Daryl came through the prison doors, followed by a bigger man. Well, on second look he wasn't bigger, just carried himself differently. Merle walked with a swagger, looking very self important for a man just discharged from prison. He was clean shaven with a military short haircut of graying hair. He looked at least ten years older than Daryl and was wearing the cargo pants, wife beater, and the black button up shirt over it. On their way to the car he clapped Daryl on the shoulder and laughed uproariously at some joke he made. Daryl didn't think it was so funny, keeping his head down. Amber didn't miss the fact that Daryl made sure he got to the drivers side in time to shove the gun in the back of his jeans before his brother opened the passenger door.

"Whoooowheeeee, little brotha , ya didn't tell me ya had such a fine piece of ass waitin' on us!"

"Shut up, Merle!"

Merle slid into the seat next to Amber and Daryl grabbed her arm to pull her over against him. Amber looked at Merle passively, she had experience with men like him in the club.

Merle grinned at her like an alligator after shutting his door. "So, sugar ti-"

"Her name's Amber, goddammit, I done told ya that!" Daryl interrupted while backing out of the parking lot.

Merle raised an eyebrow in Daryl's direction before turning back to Amber. "Ya must be a sweet lay, darlin. I ain't never seen my baby brother so tore up over some pussy."

Daryl opened his mouth but Amber silenced him with a hand on his leg.

"Why, yes, Merle, I am quite the lay." she said with a sweet smile.

Merle leaned in, "Well, sugar, the little brother ain't gonna keep ya satisfied fer long, he's tha sweet one. Whenever ya get tired of 'em, let ole Merle know, and ya can give the big brother a ride."

Amber leaned in like she was going to share a secret. "Sorry, Merle, I ain't got the time to deal with treatments for the clap. Sounds like big brother needs to learn to wrap it up."

Amber heard Daryl snort behind her and Merle froze for a second. Amber was afraid he was going to get mad but then the grin returned and Merle relaxed against the passenger door.

"Oh, I like this one, brotha. Full a piss and vinegar."

Amber reached for Daryl's cigarettes and lit him one. Merle watched with interest as Daryl lipped it from between her outstretched fingers. "Sugar, ya wanna light me one? Instead of your mouth though, how about ya-"

"Merle, I swear to God, if ya don't shut up I'll make ya ride in the fuckin' back!" Daryl growled.

Merle ignored him as Amber threw a cigarette (unlit) and the lighter at him. As soon as he lit up he started rummaging through the glove box, running his hand along the top.

"Ain't there. I burned it." Daryl said, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Ya fuckin' smoked my lucky joint! What the fuck!" Merle yelled.

"Didn't say I smoked it. Said I burned it. In the trash pile at her Paw's."

Merle was horrified. "Are ya fuckin' nuts, boy? That was primo shit! The good stuff!"

Amber turned her face up to Daryl. "Really? You could have smoked it with me. That was a waste, as long it was just pot and not cranked up."

Now it was Daryl's turn to look horrified. "Don't fuckin' encourage him!", he hissed "And we'll talk about this shit later, ya hear me!"

Merle flicked his ash out the window. "Sugar, you tha farmer's daughter, right?"

"Granddaughter"Amber corrected. "You'll be staying in the rental house on our property that's part of Daryl's work arrangement."

"Awe, brotha, we back tagetha agin!" Merle said sarcastically.

Daryl glanced down at Amber worriedly.

"We might as well tell him Daryl. He needs to know." Amber said.

Merle gave a confused look then his eyes widened. "SHIT! Goddammit boy! Ya knocked'er up didn't ya!" he yelled across the truck. "Ya coulda at least pulled o-"

"FUCK NO! She ain't knocked up!" Daryl yelled back.

Amber was trying to hold back her laughter. This was like watching pre-schoolers fight.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" she finally managed. They both retreated to their sides of the truck.

"Merle, Daryl is staying with me." he started to open his mouth and she silenced him with her hand in the air between them.

"Have you ever heard of the bike club The Demons?" Direct had worked for the younger Dixon, maybe it would for the elder.

"Fuck yeah. Dangerous sons a bitches."

"How much do you know?" She was starting to get deja vu.

"Mean bastards. Won't run crank but will anything else. If ya touch one'a their women they'll fuck ya up. Why?"

"My daddy is the new president of the North Georgia Chapter."

Merle was finally silent for a few seconds. Then he addressed Daryl. "Shit, boy, ya been busy while I been in tha big house, ain't ya?"

Daryl shrugged, "I ain't a member or nothin'. Her daddy wants me ta keep an eye on her is all. Somebody could come after'er."

Merle narrowed his eyes. "You're her bodyguard or some shit?"

"Or some shit."

"So what came first, bein her bodyguard or fuckin'er?"

"Fu...Shit Merle, it ain't none a yer goddamn business!"

"Ya been ridin my bike, ain't ya?"

"Yep."

"Well, it's a good damn thang I got out. Ya probably ran my poor baby inta the ground. She's gotter daddy back now. You is stuck back in this truck."

Daryl rolled his eyes.

Amber didn't like that. Her daddy wouldn't be happy about Daryl not having a bike. She made a mental note to text her parents later when Daryl wasn't in the room.

They were pulling into the driveway of the rental house when Amber brought up the subject of work.

"Merle, you ever do farm work, like helping with haying?"

Daryl's head snapped around before Merle could answer "NO Amber! Don't ya dare!"

She ignored him, looking at Merle expectantly. A slow sly smile spread across his face. "Ole Merle had him a summer job when I was a kid doin' shit like 'at. Your Paw need another hired hand, sugar?"

"No he don't!" Daryl interjected, but they acted like he wasn't there at the moment.

"It's only temporary, but you won't have to pay rent and you'll take your meals at the main house with us."

"Ya got yourself a new hand, darlin'."

Amber and Merle shook on it, her hand dwarfed in his huge one. Daryl glared at the both of them and then slung open his door, headed into the house to pack up his few belongings to move to the trailer. He was muttering under his breath about hard headed women and his dumbass brother.


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you all for reviewing!**

Amber balanced precariously on the workbench, reaching for the box of canning jars on a high shelf in the barn. For the last two days she and her grandmother had been canning the fruits of their labors in the garden. Merle had behaved, well, as much as Merle could anyway. And the more he behaved, the more nervous Daryl had gotten. The only notable incidents had been when Roxie had introduced herself at breakfast the first morning (Merle shared that he knew a stripper by the name of Roxie) and when he had tried to light a cigarette at the dinner table the first night.

Haying season wouldn't start until Monday so Silas had both men in the shop with him in the mornings and then let them handle the garden in the afternoons so Amber could help in the kitchen with preserving the food. Daryl had been careful to keep himself within shouting distance to the big house and kept the gun on despite her grandfather's disapproving looks.

Between exhaustion, the heat, and keeping the level of their relationship secret from her grandparents their sex life had taken a significant hit. It was now right before noon on Friday and the last time they were together was Thursday morning. They had both dozed off on the couch Thursday night and then slept late the next morning, only to wake up to Merle beating on the trailer door yelling "Get your ass up ta the big house, boy, before her Paw comes down here with his fuckin' shot gun!"

Amber pushed up onto her toes, reaching her fingers to the edge of the box of jars just enough to knock it back further on the shelf. She had been barefoot in the oppressive heat in the kitchen and had run down to the barn without bothering to put on shoes. The heat had also influenced the rest of her clothing choices, a light cotton patchwork skirt that fell to her knees and the thinnest tank top she had. Her bra had been soaked in sweat within an hour of the men leaving the house so she had taken it off and threw it in the wash, meaning to put it back on before the men came in for lunch and their week's (three days in Merle's case) pay.

She stepped farther onto the bench as it wobbled beneath her. Her fingers brushed the side of the box again right before a hot hand wrapped around her ankle.

"Ya best be careful."

Amber screamed and jumped, nearly dumping herself off the workbench. Daryl's hands steadied her right behind her knees.

"Dammit, you scared the shit outta me!"

"Get down before ya kill yourself and let me get it."

Amber relented and bent down to let Daryl put his hands around her waist to help her down. When her feet hit the dirt of the barn floor he didn't let go, in fact pulling her closer to him.

Daryl was filthy, absolutely filthy. He had taken a shower as soon as they had gotten to the trailer the night before but she couldn't tell it now. He was wearing a pair of coveralls, but the top was pushed down with the arms tied around his waist. The only thing he had on top was a white wife beater. Amber thought it had been white that morning anyway, it was hard to tell with all the grease and dirt covering it now. His hair was soaked in sweat and sticking up all over, she knew from him running his hands through it to get it out of his face. Her grandmother had eyed him at breakfast and had mentioned him getting a haircut. Daryl had just looked at her like she had suggested cutting off a very different body part and slipped out the door. Roxie Dover may have been tolerating him being an affiliate of the Demons for Amber's sake, but she didn't want Daryl to look the part.

Amber felt him pressing against her hip through the coveralls and her skirt. She raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him.

"Really Daryl? It's a hundred degrees."

He smirked, taking the cigarette from his mouth to grind it under the heel of his boot. "Not my fault ya was standin up there flashin' everything."

Amber tried to act indignant. "Daryl Dixon! Were you looking up my skirt?!"

He shrugged. "Ain't nothin' up there I ain't had my mouth all over."

Daryl grabbed her hips and set her up on the workbench before stepping between her knees. He pushed her skirt up to her thighs as he lowered his head to meet her lips. He groaned, despite the heat her mouth still felt cool against his own. After a minute she pulled back.

"You're filthy."

"Ya want me ta stop?" he asked against her lips.

Amber answered by tangling her fingers in his soaked hair and pulling him back to her. Daryl may have been filthy, but as far as she was concerned, he could never be too dirty for that. He pulled her to the edge of the work bench to press his hips forward into hers and she gasped when he ground into her.

"We can't do this here."

"Why the fuck not?" his fingers were moving under the hem of her tank now as his mouth traced over her jaw.

"Papaw."

"Up at the shop, havin' a 'come ta Jesus' talk w'Merle. I'm on break."

His finger tips grazed the bottom of a breast and he took in a breath sharply and froze. "What the hell happened to yore bra?"

Amber laughed, served him right for starting this. "It was hot so I took it off."

Daryl regained his momentum, cupping her breasts while roughly rolling the peaks with his thumbs. "Ya get rid of yore panties too?" he asked against her neck.

"Why don't you check and see?"

Daryl looked up at her with a smirk and removed his hands from under her top to shove them under her skirt. He frowned when he met fabric at the juncture of her thighs.

"Damn." he said quietly before tugging on the strings of the bikinis where they ran over her hips.

"If you rip them off, I'll make you buy me a new pair."

He flexed his forearms and the strings popped. "Fuck it. S'payday."

Daryl drug the ruined underwear out from under her skirt and let them drop to the floor at his feet. He dipped his head to hers again, kissing her hard as his hand returned to her core. Rough fingers slipped over her sensitive skin and into wet folds.

"God DAMN, already soaked."

Amber could only nod, her voice taken by the actions of his fingers below. Then his hand left her and she almost whined in disappointment. She expected Daryl to undo the coveralls to free himself but instead he fell to his knees in front of the workbench and jerked her legs over his shoulders. The motion was so sudden that she fell back against the wall behind her with a quiet, "Oof." Daryl ducked his head under her skirt and then she swore her eyes crossed. He had went straight for paydirt, working her like a madman. He wasn't teasing like usual, obviously wanting her to come hard and fast. His tongue was moving in firm circles around her clit, and a hand moved up and his middle finger entered her. Then he added a new move.

That damn smoke trick.

His tongue moved directly on the sensitive nub, tip undulating in a steady wave. Amber's hands gripped the edge of the bench until her knuckles were white. She didn't have to see it to know he was moving in the same manner as when he blew the "smoke marble". She had fantasized about what it would feel like enough times. The wavering motion was pushing her toward her end, as she whimpered his name. Her belly started tightening and he growled appreciatively when a new surge of wet flooded...

"Always figured you'd be the one ta like eatin' pussy, little bro."

Amber's eyes snapped open as Daryl's head shot out from under her skirt. Merle was propped up against the doorway of the barn, grinning.

"DAMMIT MERLE!" Daryl roared, standing to block Merle from seeing up her skirt. Amber tried to set her clothes to rights with trembling hands. Her lady parts were quite angry at the sudden loss of the miracle known as Daryl Dixon's mouth.

"Ya better hurry, her Paw's 'bout a half minute behind me." Merle still hadn't moved from the door. He threw Daryl the grease rag from his back pocket. "Wipe ya face,boy." Daryl caught it with a scowl while helping Amber down from the bench with his other hand. Merle walked over as Daryl hurriedly swiped at his mouth and scruff. Merle went to take the rag back excitedly but Daryl shoved it in the back pocket of the coveralls.

"Don't think so, ya fuckin' pervert."

Just then Amber's Papaw rounded the door of the barn.

"Need help with something, Amber?"

"No, Daryl was just getting this box of jars down for me."

She looked down at her feet and her heart stopped. The torn panties were hanging out from between the heel of Daryl's boot and the ground. If her Papaw looked down they were all going to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting right then and there. He'd probably call the whole Pentecostal Convention down on their heads.

Amber swallowed and made herself look up and attempt to act natural. Daryl looked like he wanted to fall through the floor and Merle was grinning like an idiot as the old man eyed the three of them skeptically.

"Hurry up, then. I'm goin' to get the cash box. Time to pay the boys and finish up so y'all can eat."

Merle guffawed loudly at the last word and Daryl shot him a look that would peel paint off the wall. Mr. Dover turned to head up to the house and Merle followed behind.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr. Dover! My little bro is always ready ta eat!"

Dammit, Merle.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

"Why cain't ya tell me where we're goin'?!" Daryl demanded for the third time in five minutes.

As soon as everyone had finished lunch and been payed, Amber had drug Daryl down to the trailer. He had gotten excited, thinking she was wanting to finish what had been started in the barn. But she just pointed him in the direction of the shower and threw him some clean clothes. As soon as he was ready she showered quickly and dressed in jeans, a fitted v-neck red tee, and boots. The only thing she would tell him was that she had made plans for their Friday half day off and to head out to Kaye and Norm's place.

Merle had announced he was going to go up the rental house to take a nap. Daryl had immediately called him out, he had never taken a nap in his life. Amber had to remind him that Merle wasn't used to working like he was, despite still looking huge and strong. Daryl had calmed down when he realized Merle did look dead on his feet.

"We're going out ta the junkyard? For what?"

"No, we're meeting someone there and then you're leaving."

"Ain't going anywhere without you."

"Chill, alright? You got your money?"

"Yes, I said! Damn! Ain't nothin' I need ta spend that much on!" Amber had ordered Daryl to put his pay from the previous week (that was still completely intact except for where he paid for their food at Jake's last Friday) with the money her Papaw had just given him in his wallet. It was around eight hundred dollars and carrying that much money made him nervous. Hell, he had been broke for so long that just having that much money made him nervous.

Daryl let out an exasperated sigh when Kaye and Norm's house came into view. There were several bikes parked out front. None of them looked like her brother's so at least that was good. Barry and Norm came out as soon as he pulled up in front of the porch.

"Where's your daddy's bike?"

Amber looked at him for a minute, then got why he was confused. "Oh, the yellow one is what daddy calls his "fuck around" ride, that one is his official one." She pointed at the nicest black Harley he had ever seen outside her window. Shit, for real? The guy had not one but two beautiful rides?

"I said I ain't leavin ya here alone."

"Daryl, do you think daddy and Norm would leave me, Mama, and Kaye here by ourselves? Look at the front door."

Daryl did as he was told and was surprised to see Dogg, the bartender from Jake's standing in the doorway, dressed in all black. He moved his vest to the side just enough so Daryl could see his gun in it's holster and gave a nod, his meaning clear.

_Don't worry. I got her._

"Fuckin' course." Daryl muttered sarcastically just as Barry opened Amber's door.

"C'mon Pooshie! Time's a wastin'!"

Amber leaned over to give Daryl a kiss on the cheek before getting out, her father taking her place. Daryl gulped, what the hell was going on? Norm's bike roared around them as he pointed it toward the road.

"Follow'im." Barry directed. Daryl turned the truck around as Amber waved from the porch. He wasn't about to argue with the man.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

"Don't you think they should have been back by now?"

Amber paced across the porch, her current glass of wine forgotten as she wore a path in the wood under her feet. Kaye and Debra swayed lazily in the swing and Dogg sat picking at his nails with his knife in a rocking chair.

"Amber, he's fine. Now sit down, relax and drink your wine." her mother said.

"Are you sure they were only going to the dealership? It's been four hours."

"Yes. Now sit down before I have Dogg tie you down."

Dogg laughed at that and Amber finally took her seat in the other rocking chair, finishing the last half of her drink in one gulp. She missed the worried look the two other women shared.

Less than ten minutes later the sound of motorcycle engines floated up from the road. Two bikes, one she recognized as Norm's, led the way followed by Daryl's truck. She ran down the steps and met them, grinning at the second bike's rider. But her smile fell as soon he got close enough to get a good look. She froze, her face like stone as Norm and Daryl parked the bikes and her Daddy cut off the truck.

Daryl swung off the bike seat and removed his helmet, giving her a smirk. He was flanked by her father and Norm as Amber walked up. She gave Daryl a long look before turning to her father and smashing her empty wine glass into the gravel at his feet.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" she screamed.


	25. Chapter 25

**Wow, intense biker daughter shit fit ahead and drama. I agonized over Daryl's dialogue in the second half, I hope I kept him in character. Let me know what you think! This is one of those big pivotal moments.**

"HOW DARE YOU?!"

Barry winced as he daughter screamed up at his face, her chest almost touching his.

"Wait, Pooshie..."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT! I'M NOT FOUR YEARS OLD ANYMORE DAMMIT!"

Daryl's eyes flicked between the two older men, panicking and at a loss at how to react. He knew Amber wouldn't be happy with everything but he hadn't expecting her to unleash this level of hell on them, especially not on her daddy. He had never really seen her angry yet. Norm started to speak but Amber silenced him with a finger in his face.

"Don't even try.", she snarled "You're just as much at fault, being his right hand just like always!"

Amber turned her attention to the bike behind Daryl, walking around behind them and running her hand over the seat with a flourish.

"Nice ride, but not what I was expecting." She turned back to Barry. "I said he needed JUST a nice sport bike, something we could ride so he could enjoy it. I just wanted to give him something to make him happy! This..." she gestured toward the bike "is built for speed, stripped down while still being a little tricked out."

Her attention turned to Daryl. "You know why right?" Daryl just followed her fathers lead and stayed silent, there would be no correct answer anyway. She continued "So when the bullets start flying you can put me on it and get the fuck out," she turned to Barry for a second " Right daddy?" His face was a mask of stone.

Amber straddled the bike, "Bitch seat is level with the driver. That's a Norm special for sure! That way," she make a gun with her hand and turned at the waist directing her line of sight behind her "when you have to shoot at someone following us, I'm out of the way. Isn't that fun? And oh look, clips on the handlebars for the bow. How sweet, the more instant death we can deal, the better." Her level of sarcasm had reached outright bitterness.

Daryl fought the urge to start chewing his thumbnail, apparently they were going to let her get all this out of her system. Amber swung off the bike and stalked over to Daryl as much as her five feet of height would let her. She swept her arm up and down in front of him. "All this! Boots, jeans, belt, shirt, vest, all black. Of course, because black is the color of MOTHER FUCKING DEATH!"

Amber touched the front of his vest and he fought the flinch. Her hand slipped to the pocket inside, pulling out the new cell phone. "Prepaid, non-traceable, and on the club account I bet. So he can contact you without me knowing." She faced her daddy "Classy!"

She shoved the cell back into his pocket and walked around him to yank up the vest and pull the new gun out. "Brand new Desert Eagle, no serial and also non traceable, Barry Phillips is nothing if not thorough." She ejected the clip. "Extended magazine, so you can kill just a few more people for me." Amber slammed the clip home, racked the slide and fired two shots, exploding a bucket Norm had sitting twenty yards away. "Hollow points, rip a person's guts to shreds on impact." The gun slid roughly back into Daryl's waistband.

"This," her hand raised his wrist, bringing the two inch wide black leather band he now wore snapped around it to eye level, "This is a Norm special too, that smart bastard. You see, I don't know if he explained what this is for yet. Norm bites his nails too. And if you're in negotiations or any tight situation with a rival club, if they see you bite your nails, it looks weak. But twisting a black leather band looks tough. So this is your fidget, because DEMON'S can't look weak."

Her eyes found the bandage on his upper arm and she paled. "You took ink? But...it's in the wrong place."

Barry finally spoke up for him. "It's not club ink, just something he wanted."

Amber shook her head, clearly not wanting to go down that path at the moment. She walked over to her father again. "You gave him all the cool stuff, now let's show him the rest of the story. Unbutton your shirt daddy."

Barry sighed, hesitated for a second and then unbuttoned his shirt down to his stomach. Daryl's eyes flicked to the mans chest when she pointed. From the divot between his collar bones to the bottom of his sternum was one large mass of gnarled scar tissue, dotted on either side from what must have been him having his sternum wired back together.

"Daryl, he took two bullets to the chest! He died twice on the operating table!"

"Amber, tell him the rest, if you're so damn set on it." Barry's words were measured. She glared at him as he continued speaking to Daryl. "Those bullets were meant for Debbie, she was seven months pregnant with Amber. I would have lost both of them. And I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"SHUT UP!" Amber screamed. "Fine! Your turn 'Uncle' Norm!" Norm didn't argue, just pulled up his sleeveless tee high enough that Daryl could see the two thick ropes of scar tissue that ran across his stomach.

"See?" Amber gestured wildly, "The only reason why he's alive is because daddy was there to hold his guts in until the ambulance got there!"

Norm cleared his throat, it obviously took everything he had to speak. "Martinez took Kaye. This is what it took for me ta get her back."

Amber's hands pulled at her own hair. "THERE'S ALWAYS A GODDAMN GOOD REASON ISN'T THERE?!" She stomped back over to Daryl. "This shit isn't part of being with me! You don't have too! They are WILLING to take the bullet or a knife!"

Daryl opened his mouth before he could think, words just rolling out for the first time in his life.

"An' I'll do it for you."

His head snapped to the side, the slap ringing loudly in the front yard. He didn't react other bringing his head back to meet her eyes as his tongue went to the split in his lip.

Amber was jerking, her breath ripping out of her chest. She looked at her hand for a second before dropping it back to her side. When she spoke, her voice had changed to a wavering weakness as tears began to spill down her cheeks.

"Don't you ever say that again. EVER. If you want to be a prospect, be a goddamn DEMON...then fine! Welcome to hell."

Amber turned on her heel and ran into the house. Kaye reached out to her but the younger woman just jerked away. The screen door slammed behind her leaving them with a deafening silence.

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Daryl paced outside the bathroom door in small hallway, alternately worrying the band around his wrist and biting his nails. Amber had locked herself in there nearly an hour ago after her tirade. At first Kaye and Debra had talked through the door, begging her to open it but Amber had just yelled back that they had lied to her. She accused them of knowing Barry was making Daryl a prospect that day, instead of just using his influence at the dealership to get the younger man a good deal on a bike with his saved pay as a down payment. They didn't answer, she was right.

She had cried for over a half an hour, loud wrenching sobs that had Daryl's stomach threatening to crawl up his throat. Then the sobs had slipped into a silence that was somehow more sickening. Both older couple's were in eyesight of the door, Barry and Debra talking in hushed tones over coffee at the kitchen table while Norm sat in a worn recliner in the living room, Kaye perched on his knee with his hand on her thigh. Norm cleared his throat and Daryl stopped his pacing, giving the man a panicked look. The older man pointed at Daryl then the bathroom door.

_Do something._

Daryl shrugged. _What_?

"Up ta you." was the quiet reply.

Daryl's eyes slid over to Barry in the kitchen and then back to Norm. Norm shook his head and did the pointing again.

_No, not her daddy. You. Do it._

Daryl sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face before running it through his hair. He stepped up to the door, hesitating a second before banging loudly three times.

"Go away daddy! I ain't coming out." Amber's voice was hoarse, stripped from her earlier tirade and the crying.

"Ain't yer fuckin' daddy, now open the damn door!" Daryl yelled, hoping with everything he had he was saying the right things. He had to get in there.

"Fuck you Daryl! Fuck you AND that new bike you rode in on!" Daryl took a deep breath and laid his head on the door, at a loss.

Norm cleared his throat again to get his attention, then his boot flashed out for a second before returning to the floor.

_Kick it in._

Daryl looked at Kaye, she smiled and made a 'go ahead' motion before jerking her thumb at Norm and whispering "He's done it a time or two."

Daryl turned back to the door and banged again. "Open the door, girl. Or I'll kick it in!"

"Go to hell, Daryl. And I'm not your girl!" Her voice broke on the

last words.

"Then ya best move back, cause I'm kickin' it down on three!"

Norm rose slowly from the recliner and took Kaye's hand to lead her out to the porch, Amber's parent's following behind. Apparently, this was a lesson Daryl was going to have to learn on his own. That was fitting in a way, that's the way it had been his whole life.

"One!" Daryl stood back for a minute and sized up the door. In all the stupid things he had done in his thirty four years, kicking down a door wasn't one of them.

"Go away, Daryl! I'm serious!"

"Two!"

"Don't you dare! I swear to god!" He could tell she had moved to the far side of the bathroom from the location of her voice.

"Three!" His boot came up and collided with the door right below the doorknob. The old wood of the door jam splintered and the lock popped, the door itself rocketing open to hit the bathroom counter. Daryl's hand instinctively shot out to keep it from rebounding into his face as he stepped into the bathroom.

Amber had wedged herself in the space between the sink and tub, sitting on the floor with her arms around her drawn up legs. Her face was resting on her knees as her shoulders jerked with new sobs. Daryl hit his own knees in front of her, narrowly missing hitting his head on the corner of the sink. He studied her for a minute before reaching out slowly. Amber jerked away from him the second his hand touched her knee.

Seeing her pull away from him like that steeled his resolve. This shit was NOT happening. He had already kicked a door down to get in here, it was time to pick up his nuts and do something. As his granddaddy used to say, in for a penny in for a pound.

Daryl sat down with his back to the tub and took a deep breath before reaching over and grabbing Amber's upper arms. She tried to twist away as he hauled her into his lap. She fought, hands pushing at his and legs trying to find purchase on the linoleum under them. Curses flew from both as she struggled but he held fast. Finally he got her ass in his lap.

"Stop it! Let me go!" she grunted, pushing against his chest.

"No. You stop it! We're gonna talk this shit out!" Actually, the last thing he wanted to do was talk. That was one thing he had always sucked at and avoided as much as possible. But Daryl was pretty sure he was going to have to do a whole hell of a lot of talking before they got up out of that bathroom floor.

"Fuck you!"

"Maybe later, we got other goddamn problems right now." he growled.

Amber's hand flashed up and he caught it this time before it made contact, his fingers like iron around her delicate wrist. Daryl leaned in until his nose almost brushed hers.

"Do NOT hit me again! Or I'll do what ya daddy shoulda when ya talked ta him like that out in tha yard and WHIP YOUR ASS!"

Amber didn't back down, keeping her eyes on his despite the fact that her whole body was shaking and he could feel her pulse hammering away under his fingertips where he restrained her hand. Daryl sighed and sat back a little, bringing the hand she had tried to hit him with to his lips. He kissed her fingertips and then her palm before pressing it to the side of his face and leaning into it.

"Please, girl. Stop this shit. We gotta figure this out." He pleaded. A strangled keening noise broke from her throat right before she started to crumple. Daryl released her hand and drew her into his chest. She didn't fight this time, letting him wrap his arms tightly around her and kiss the top of her head before resting his chin there. Amber didn't cry, she was cried out. Instead she just shook, huge shudders that he tried to absorb with his own body over the next few minutes. Doing what felt right had worked so far so Daryl went with his gut and held her. Slowly the shudders subsided until she was still. Then her voice wavered against his chest.

"Why you gotta be like this?"

"Like what?" Daryl murmured into her hair.

"Act all rough and tough, then when we're alone be all sweet."

He shrugged, "Merle says I was always the sweet one."

She was silent for a while before talking again. "Why did you let daddy do it?"

"I ain't lyin' ta ya. It's best this way. So I can keep ya safe."

"You can do that without being a Demon."

He shook his head. "That's like sayin' I can take down a buck without goin' inta the woods."

"Lot harder to die hunting deer than it is being hunted by a man."

"Got more on the line."

Amber looked up then, her fingertips tracing the split in his lip.

"You can't die for me."

Daryl looked away from her. "I ain't going nowhere."

She brought her hand under his chin to make him look at her. "You can't promise that if you're a prospect."

"He said I ain't gotta do nothin' but protect you. No goin' on runs, nothin'."

Amber scoffed bitterly and released his face. "Daddy promises a lot of things. Promised me that he'd just get you a sweet ride today, and that was it."

Daryl looked up at her from beneath his hair. "Ya don't like my new bike?"

"I didn't say that. Of course I like it. I better, I'm gonna be on it."

He smirked. "So we're good?"

Amber ignored the question, not quite ready to answer. "Why did you let him do this?"

"Wasn't his idea."

"Norm?"

"Me."

Amber stiffened and gave him a look that broke his heart. "I told you this didn't have to be a part of what we have."

"S'more than that."

Amber regained a bit of her previous indignation. She turned in his lap, tears welling in her already swollen eyes as she pressed a finger in his chest. "This is not you! This isn't who you are!"

Daryl felt anger well up. "The shit it AIN'T! I felt like I won the goddamn lottery these last two weeks, and I AIN'T talkin about all that shit out in the driveway. That's just ta help me take care a ya! Ya think this ain't me?"

He reached back behind his head and tore off his shirt and vest in one swift motion. Amber reeled back, knowing what was coming.

"How about this?!" He held his right bicep in her face, the demon there mocking her. "Or these?" Daryl leaned over and twisted his shoulders to bring the warring demons into her line of sight. Amber looked away, hand going to her mouth.

"Coincidence! You were sixteen and drunk!"

"Shit happens for a reason though, don't it?" he spat. "Yore Paw and daddy have done more for me in two weeks than my daddy and Merle ever did! Yore mama, Norm and them...every damn body. And you...damn, don't ya get it! Fuck, I AIN'T ever had NOBODY! And there ya come in that goddamn garden smellin like fuckin RAIN, and lookin at me like I could BE somethin. Like I AM somethin other than a piece a trash..."

"Stop! Just stop!"

"Then you stop! This is what I want! It's like I was born for all this shit!"

"And you'll DIE FOR IT!"

"I AIN'T LEAVIN YOU! Ya can kick me outta our bed, outta our fuckin trailer if ya want! But you'll have ta step over me every goddamn morning cause I'll be sleepin on the porch with my gun!"

Amber reeled back at the enormity of his words. Our bed, our trailer. Daryl didn't even realize in his haste, just waited for her response. After a moment Amber decided to let it go for later.

"Nobody's coming for me."

Daryl looked away and she saw his thumb twitch toward his mouth before he could stop it.

"Daryl, what is it."

He still didn't answer, just pressed the heels of his hands to his eyelids for a minute before looking away again.

"Answer me dammit." Amber ordered.

"Yer daddy got a call while we was out."

"About what?" Amber fought the urge to gag.

"Those french fuckers..." he gestured into the air, searching for the name.

"Le Mechants?"

He nodded, just going ahead and gnawing on his thumbnail.

"What about them?"

"Source said they was plannin on takin somebody."

"Who?"

"Don't know. They're pissed cause yer daddy won't let em run crank through here. Said they're takin somebody close to a high member. Know it'll be a woman cause everybody know's ya don't mess with a Demon's woman." Daryl wanted to crawl into hole, he felt like he had talked more in the last five minutes than be had his whole life.

"It'll be Kaye, Martinez..."

"Order didn't come from Martinez, came from the President."

Amber curled up a little tighter into his chest, wanting to just stay in that bathroom forever now that she had this news.

"You know you aren't officially patched in until you take the ink. You can step down from being a prospect up until then."

"Yeah, they told me."

"You know that it'll be on your back, somebody else will have to see besides me. There's no turning back once you take it?"

He nodded.

Amber sat up, talking about the club ink reminded her about the bandage on his outside of his right shoulder. Traced her fingers over the tape at the edge.

"G'head. Look." Red crept up Daryl's cheeks.

She peeled the tape and gauze away, the tattoo was clear despite the plastic film she left over it and the red skin surrounding it. A woman's slim ankle and foot against what looked like crumpled bedsheets. A wicked rattlesnake curled around her ankle and struck out at the observer, razor sharp fangs dripping deadly venom. She traced her finger lightly over the scales on the snakes back, the name Desperado hidden in them, only there if you looked closely.

The meaning was clear. She was the woman in the bed, Daryl was the rattlesnake, ready to strike in her defense.

Amber nodded weakly and cradled Daryl's head in her hands before bringing her lips to his for a second. He let out his breath in a whoosh, as if he'd been holding it, waiting on her response. She lay her forehead on his.

"That mean ya like it?"

"I love it. It's perfect."

Amber grabbed his shirt and vest, pulling them over his head before standing and offering her hand. He took it and hugged her to him again standing in that bathroom. She caught a glimpse of them in the mirror and her heart stopped. He was right, shit happens for a reason.

He was her Demon, whether she liked it or not.

"We're going to the clubhouse tonight aren't we."

"Yer daddy said I need ta meet everybody."

Amber nodded, knowing what it took for Daryl to willingly put himself in a group of people like that. "Then I guess you better take me home on that sweet new bike of yours. I need to change."

"Ya can't wear that?"

"No I can't. If your gonna do this, then I have to look the part too. It's been a long time since I went to the clubhouse. C'mon." Amber took his hand and led him out the bathroom door and into whatever was waiting for them.


	26. Chapter 26

**I love all the love and interest this story is getting! Daryl/OFC stories are often not read/reviewed very much so to get this is amazing! **

**For those not familiar with bike club terminology, a nomad is a club member not affiliated with a particular chapter, instead traveling between chapters (which can be spread worldwide) within a club.**

"Hey, we gonna get somethin' ta eat on the way there?!"

Daryl yelled to Amber from the living room.

"There's usually pizza at the clubhouse on Friday's, other junk. Fix a sandwich if you're hungry." Amber's voice came from the bathroom now, along with that weird burning smell he couldn't place. They had come in the trailer thirty minutes ago and she had spent most that time digging in the back of her closet. Then after getting dressed in the bedroom (with the door closed, much to his chagrin) he had heard her move to the bathroom.

"Don't want a fuckin sandwich, want a burger." he grumbled, grabbing a tomato and loaf of bread from the counter.

"We could just not go!"

"Jus' hurry up!" How the hell did she hear him?

He was on his second tomato sandwich when she finally came into the living room, the heels making clicks against the old flooring. Daryl nearly choked when he looked up and had to grab his mason jar of sweet tea to wash it down.

This...this wasn't what he was expecting. Amber smirked at him as he wiped his hands on his jeans and made his way cautiously over to her. She was wearing black jeans that were even tighter than the ones she had worn to Jake's. A pair of the highest heels he had ever seen rose up into leather boots that went above her knees. And then on top...fuckin' hell. He didn't know what the name for that was. It didn't have any straps or sleeves or nothin'. It was pink, coming up to curve over the swell of her breasts, doing something to push them up and together that made his hands itch. A pair of angel wings was on the front in black, along with a couple of red roses. Two delicate silver chains hung from the bottom of the front to loop up over and attach on the top above her right hip.

Daryl's eyes finally made it to her face. He had never seen Amber wear make up and wasn't really sure if he liked it or not. Now, it was hot, hot as hell. But it made her look different. She had lined her eyes in black, the lids a shimmery grey that faded to silver at her brow bone. The lashes were so long that he thought he could see them brush her lower lid when she blinked. It all made her eyes look so green that they didn't even look real.

Daryl walked around Amber slowly. Her hair, she had done something to it. It was perfectly straight now, hanging like a sheet of black silk to the middle of her ass. His hand came up and brushed it away from her back. The top dipped down showing most of her back. But then he looked further down and lost it. The jeans were low on her hips and the top of her black g-string was visible for a couple inches as it came to the top of that sweet ass of hers and over to her hips.

"You gonna say something or just stand there looking at me like I'm dinner. Do I look alright?"

Alright? She had to be joking. She didn't look alright, she looked like a fuckin' wet dream...and there was no goddamn way she was wearing that out. Daryl crossed his arms across his chest and moved in front of her.

"Uh uh," he said, shaking his head, "Ya ain't wearing..." he waved his hand in front of her.

Amber pursed her lips. "I take that you don't like it."

"Fuck yeah, I like it. Makes me wanna bend ya over that counter and fuck ya blind. Just like every other man there tonight will want to. Now go change or put somethin' on over it or somethin'."

"No." Amber crossed her own arms, mirroring his stance. She knew he would be like this, now he knew a little of how she felt when he got off that bike at Norm's.

"Tha fuck ya mean, no." Daryl narrowed his eyes at her.

"I'm wearing it. Trust me there will be other women there with a lot less on than this."

"Them other women ain't my..." he hesitated then, a mild look of panic on his face. Amber raised her eyebrow and smirked in amusement.

_Your what?_

"Just go change!" he finally barked, and flopped down on the couch. Amber sunk down beside him.

"Daryl, either we can talk this out or we can have another fight. It's up to you."

"Fuckin tired a talkin." he mumbled from around his thumbnail.

"Me wearing this is just like what your wearing, it's part of it."

He sighed, "Yer gonna make me kick somebodies ass there t'night."

"No, I'm not. Rules of the clubhouse. They can look, they can talk, but they can't touch me without my permission. And their's only one man who has that."

Daryl snorted. "Really? Who would that be?"

Amber turned and laid down on the couch with her head and shoulders in Daryl's lap.

"This new prospect. He's kinda badass."

"I ain't badass." One of his hands found her breast and she arched her back. She felt his cock dig in between her shoulders and knew she had Daryl right where she wanted him.

"I need to give you the outline of how the club works before we leave."

Daryl sighed and lay his head back on the back of the couch. It was clear he wasn't getting any before they left, even if he gave in and let her wear that get up.

"Like I said, they can talk, just can't touch. You can't punch somebody just because they say the words Amber and titties or ass in the same sentence."

Daryl grunted. That just wasn't being fair.

"Look at is this way, daddy's probably going to have all the guys out there going nuts over your new bike. That will make you feel proud, right?"

Daryl shrugged. He had never had anything to be proud over until lately.

"Same thing Daryl, somebody says 'Amber's got a sweet rack', you just smile and say 'Yep, she does.' It's just like the bike."

"No it ain't. I ain't fuckin' my bike." The serious look on his face and the absurdity of his statement sent Amber into a fit of the giggles.

After a few moments she recovered, going on to outline the layout of the club. There was a large main room with a bar, the meeting room, and several side rooms with beds for members to stay the night if they got too drunk to ride. Her brother would be there, but he usually stayed with his usual entourage of wanna be prospects and skanks. As long as Daryl stayed with Barry and Norm he would be fine. Amber would hang out with her mom and Kaye until Daryl made the rounds and then they could be together for a while before leaving. This wasn't the usual night for a meeting of the officers but with the new threat they would probably go ahead.

After she finished, they made their way to the clubhouse. Despite not liking Daryl being a prospect, Amber relished being on this new bike with him. It was fast, smooth. The level seat allowed her to get closer to him. She could tell he was thoroughly enjoying himself, feeling out exactly how it handled and responded.

When they pulled up, he parked at the end of the long row of bikes. Amber ran her hands through her hair to set it to rights after wearing the helmet. Daryl was standing there watching her, a smirk on his face.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"What is it? Tell me!" she demanded.

Daryl grinned, "Jus didn't know ya was such a bad biker bitch."

"Yeah, well now you do. C'mon, prospect." Amber gave Daryl a smack on the ass as she passed him, headed toward the door. He followed behind wide eyed. Seeing how she moved in this world outside the farm was so...so something, he couldn't really name it. It was exciting and a little scary at the same time. He caught up with her right out side the door, and his hand moved to the small of her back without a conscious thought. The other couples passing them were hanging all over each other, it was the least he could do. A huge black man, bigger than Dogg stood to the side of the door. He smiled hugely as soon as he saw Amber.

"Hey, Little Bit!

"Tyreese!" She threw her arms around his neck and Daryl stiffened until he made sure the big fuckers gigantic hands didn't stray from the safe zone of her mid back.

She introduced them, making sure she emphasized he was one of her many 'Uncle's' just like Norm. Daryl was glad she had more than him watching over her, but he still couldn't be comfortable with her being surrounded by so many men.

"Carol's tending bar tonight, she'll be glad to see you." Tyreese said as they made their way in. The music was loud, the bass almost tooth rattling. The main room was crowded, and Daryl fought the urge to head on out the door. Several heads turned their way immediately and his eyes fell to the floor. Amber must have sensed his tension because she took his hand. Daryl squeezed it without hesitation, needing a lifeline in this sea of strangers.

"Let's get you a beer before daddy grabs you."

Amber lead him to the bar, finding seats next to Debra and Kaye. They were talking with the bartender Carol, a pretty woman with short gray hair. She got him a beer and Amber her usual, Tennessee Honey over ice. At least now he had something to do with his hands.

Daryl let the women do the talking as he perched on the barstool watching the crowd. He didn't miss the fact that many of the men had run their eyes over Amber and he had to remind himself of what she told him earlier. There was one slimy looking fucker in the corner, though, that was asking for it. He had a ridiculous handle bar mustache that he kept fiddling with while he looked her over. Daryl shot him a glare and the guy practically tripped over himself getting out of his line of sight.

Daryl felt Amber's hand drift down to lay on his leg right above his knee and he jumped. She just kept talking to her mom and Kaye so he tried to relax. Then he caught sight of her brother.

Leon was on one of the couches that were arranged across the room. He had a woman on each side of him, and that was if you interpreted the term 'woman' loosely. The scantily clad whores reminded him of some of the ones Merle used to bring home, all bleached hair and plastic titties. One of them only had on top what looked like a tiny leather bikini top and every so often Leon would openly cop a feel while his tongue was in the other one's mouth. The whole thing made Daryl want to puke.

He looked up then and caught Daryl's eye. Leon's nostrils flared and his glare would have scared a lesser man. Daryl knew he was angry, didn't want him here. Then his eyes flicked down to Amber's hand on his leg. Daryl felt a rise in his gut. He could see the shadow of the week old bruise on Leon's jaw. Fuck him. He had already dropped the asshole once. Might as well piss him off a little more. The problem wasn't how he looked at Daryl, it was how he looked at his sister. Like she was no better than the skanks in his lap. It made Daryl want to mess his face up a little more. He had promised no fighting, but he could always fuck with him a little.

Daryl set his empty bottle on the bar and Carol immediately replaced it with a fresh one. Before he picked it up he turned on his barstool to Amber on the next, putting his knees on either side of her from behind. She was facing away, toward her conversation with the other women but he saw her smile when he moved around her. He let one arm go around her waist after a few seconds of reminding himself he could. She was his...well, she was just his. And if that big ass could practically fuck those skanks in front of everybody, Daryl could put his arm around her waist.

Amber linked the fingers of one of her hands with his that lay on her stomach and leaned back into his chest.

"You enjoying fucking with my brother?"

All three women looked at him with amused looks on their faces. Daryl went to jerk his arm back but Amber grabbed hold.

"Don't you dare. You back off and he wins this round." Debra said. Daryl looked at her and Kaye and realized they were on his side so he just tried to relax, looking like he was listening to their conversation as he nursed his beer, Amber lounging against him. Leon was staring a hole in him so he finally just gave him a smirk and flipped him off with the hand that was on Amber's stomach.

_Fuck you._

Leon visibly tensed but didn't get up from the couch, continuing to let the skank twins (that's what Daryl was calling them in his head) work him over. One of them slipped her hand in Leon's pants. Daryl was pretty sure shit like that was supposed to be handled in the side rooms but didn't say anything, it wasn't his place. He just turned his head back to Amber. She must have noticed it when he did, though, because she spoke up.

"Mama, I think Leon needs a little reminder."

Debra took at her son and sighed. He heard her mutter what sounded like "nasty ass shit" as she hopped off her barstool and made her way across the room to her son. She was wearing one of those things like Amber (she had told him it was called a bustier) but hers was solid black. Debra's hair was short and he could see the angel wings tattoo that took up almost her whole back. She stood in front of her son, hands on her hips. Skank twin #1 had pulled her hand out of Leon's pants the second Debra arrived on the scene. Daryl couldn't hear what the woman was saying but could guess from the way her head was cocked. Leon mouthed back at her, and then gestured toward Daryl.

What was this shit? Surely Leon wasn't putting Daryl's arm around Amber's waist on the same level as getting jerked off in front of everybody.

Barry appeared at Debra's right and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, telling Leon to take it elsewhere. The man jumped up off the couch angrily and stalked off through a side door, two bleached blonde heads bobbing along behind. Then Barry turned toward the bar and nodded his head.

"Go on, Desperado. That's your cue." Amber said over her shoulder.

Daryl swallowed nervously and leaned over to grab his beer off the bar. Before he could stand Amber turned on her stool and fisted the front of his vest. She leaned in and kissed him quickly and hard, her teeth nipping his lower lip once before letting him go. He had just started to respond out of instinct when she let him go and he remembered where they were. The blush crept up his cheeks and he wanted to kick himself. Her brother was over there getting a hand job like it was nothing and he was embarrassed over a kiss. As soon as she let him go she went for her drink, finishing it off and motioning Carol for another.

Kaye laughed. "Go, boy. The bosses are waiting."

Daryl nodded and gave Amber a hard look before heading over to where Barry and Norm waited. He took his beer with him, pretty sure some liquid confidence was going to be in order.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber had watched as Barry and Norm ushered Daryl outside, several other members in tow. Of course, they were going to go drool over his new ride first. Good, she thought, it would boost his confidence. God knows the man needed it. The 'piece of trash' remark in Kaye and Norm's bathroom that afternoon had almost killed her.

But him fucking with Leon had been a welcome surprise. Apparently, a couple beers and a big asshole was all it took for Daryl to come into himself a little. That was good too, she wanted him to stake his claim. If he was dead set on being a Demon, he would have to be able to walk in this world easier than he did on the outside.

"Earth to Amber!"

"Oh, what?" she answered Kaye as her Mama looked on grinning.

"Your Mama asked you a question girl. How is it?"

Amber didn't have to ask what "it" they were talking about. These two were worse than Maggie.

"None of y'alls business. That's how it is." Amber grinned into her drink. She wasn't giving up the information that easily. Plus, she knew Daryl was a private man. But it wouldn't hurt to buck up his image a little in that department too.

"Ooooooh, that grin says it girl. I bet it's gold plated and got three speeds." Amber practically spit her drink out as her mother fell across the bar laughing at Kaye.

Amber finally stopped choking enough to address her. "Shit, Kaye! Really?" Amber didn't have any problems talking sex with her mom, she was like a sister as was Kaye. Unruly older sisters with dirty mouths. She had just surprised her.

Both women leaned in. "Start talking. Before they come back in."

Amber smirked. "He's the best I've ever had. He's...intense. Like all shy and stuff until we get alone and then...bam."

"Bam, huh." Kaye said, leaning back "Sounds like Norm. Used to, he couldn't hardly talk in public. Then next thing I know he's got me bent over the kitchen table."

Amber laughed and shook her head. Her mom went to open her mouth and Amber put her hand up. "Uhuh, no way, I don't want to hear about Daddy. That's where I draw my line."

"Then give us details!" Kaye prodded, "Like is he a good kisser?"

"The man can work miracles with his mouth, let's just put it that way."

Both women nodded and the grew wide eyed a second later. "You mean.." Kaye raises an eyebrow while Debra bounced on the edge of her seat.

"Yes. A lot. Like he loves to, all the time."

"Oh!" both women exclaimed and leaned back against the bar.

"You lucky little bitch." her mother sighed dreamily.

Their conversation was interrupted when Daryl, Barry, and the group with them rambled in the door. Amber was relieved, she didn't want to share any other information at the moment. Barry slung his arm around the younger man's neck and pulled him to the bar. To Amber's delight, she only detected a small flinch in Daryl. The beer must be kicking in. The group settled at the far end of the bar and she was able to observe without him knowing.

Barry ordered a round of shots and he and Norm flanked Daryl as they kicked them back along with the other men. She was still pretty pissed at her father and 'uncle' but she deeply appreciated the effort they were making to help him fit in. After a third round of shots, Daryl said something that cracked all the other men up and she felt as if her heart would burst. He had smiled, an actual smile, like teeth and everything. Not a smirk, not a grin, a smile. He was maybe half lit, and it hadn't been directed to anyone, just down at the bar, at himself. But it was there.

Then the group moved down the bar and Barry, Norm, and Daryl stopped at their respective women.

"Goin' out back to the firing range?" Debra asked.

"Yeah, gotta see how the boy handles that new gun I bought him today." Barry answered, surprisingly clear despite the alcohol he had consumed.

"Great, a bunch of drunks handling guns." Amber said sarcastically.

"Ain't drunk." Daryl said in her ear right before his arm wrapped around her waist from behind. She felt one of his fingers of the other hand slip under the string of her underwear and then tug back. Amber almost jerked in her seat when her panties pulled against her.

She was going to kill that sexy drunk sneaky bastard.

Thankfully her father and Norm were involved in a discussion with their wives at the moment. She went to turn around to glare at Daryl but he tugged on the string again. Her fingers grabbed the edge of the bar. It wasn't alot of sensation , but it was enough, since she had no hair down their to interfere.

"Gonna teach ya not ta wear this shit." he breathed, only she could hear him over the loud music.

Amber turned her head enough to whisper sweetly "Fuck you."

"Yep." Another tug.

Her daddy and Norm finished up before it could go any further.

"C'mon. Let's see how ya handle that piece." Norm said, nodding toward the back door.

Amber was quite sure he could handle his piece just fine, thank you very much. And she was going to make him prove it as soon as possible.

Daryl moved to follow the other men outside and gave her ass a slap as he passed. He was at least sober enough to look a little sheepish when Debra and Kaye hooted in approval.

They had been gone twenty minutes when Kaye and Debra went to the bathroom, leaving Amber alone down at her end of the bar with Carol. The woman was setting out clean glasses as Amber watched absentmindedly from the other side of the bar. She felt a hand slide over the ass of her jeans.

"Didn't stay gone long, did you Desperado?" she asked without turning. The hand slid across and down to her thigh, Amber's own hand went to cover it and she froze. The fingers under hers weren't hot and calloused, they were clammy and smooth.

This wasn't Daryl.

She swung around on her barstool. This was that strange guy she had seen Daryl glaring at earlier. She glanced down at his vest seeing the nomad patch.

"Hey, pretty thing. Wanna take a ride?" His mustache twitched when he talked.

Before it could occur to her to do anything he was snatched away to her left. She heard a thump and jerked around in time to see Carol come up on the bar, one knee on the counter behind. She had the nomad by the hair and shoved his head down on the bar before pulling her knife from her belt to press it to his throat.

"I see you're a nomad, and don't know the rules of this chapter, prick." The tiny woman growled. "So, I'm not gonna cut your throat just yet."

Amber yelled to the people closest to her, "Get Tyreese!"

The nomad was practically pissing himself, watching Carol fearfully. She continued "In this chapter, nobody touches any woman unless she says you can. Plus, that's the presidents daughter and I KNOW you saw her with that mean as hell prospect." Amber was pretty sure Carol just threw her a wink.

"S-sorry." he stammered.

Carol released him just as Tyreese came lumbering up, his voice booming. "What the hell is going on?!"

The nomad turned to Tyreese. "Shit, man, y'all didn't tell me ya had the dyke from hell workin' the bar."

The poor stupid guy returned to the bar, now held facedown by a huge ebony hand on the back of his neck. This had grown comical, Amber had her hand over her mouth to hide the giggles and Carol had a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Excuse me?!" Tyreese barked. "What the fuck did you just say?"

The nomads reply was muffled by his nose and lips being mashed against the bar. Good thing, the more this dude talked the worse it got for him.

"Let me tell you something about that lady behind the bar, nomad." Tyreese bent down to the guy's ear. "She likes her men just like she likes her coffee. Tall, black, and strong. You catchin' me?"

"Ew snit." came the reply from the face smashed on the bar.

Oh shit was right.

Carol's hand fell on Tyreese's shoulder and she shook her head with a smile. He looked over at Amber. "Up to you, little bit."

"He didn't know. Cut him some slack."

"You want me to get your daddy?"

"No!" she said quickly. The last thing she needed was Daryl trying to kill the idiot. This night was going to good for him right now.

Tyreese jerked the guy up and shoved him to the other side of the clubhouse ordering him to stay away from both women. The next time he stepped out of line he would be handed over to the president and his newest prospect.

Amber and Carol were still laughing over the incident when Debra and Kaye returned. They filled them in and all agreed it would be best if they didn't tell Daryl for now. She hopped off her barstool, headed to the bathroom.

She finished up in the small room at the end of the hall and flipped the light off after washing her hands. Her fingers traced down the wall in the dark hallway as she watched her step. Even back here the loud music filtered back into the side rooms.

Then an arm came around her waist and a hand clamped down over her mouth. Amber was jerked into a door to her right and heard it slam shut behind her and her attacker.


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry this took so long. I'm a pastor's wife, so I don't usually get to write much on Sunday's. (Stop laughing, yes, a pastor's wife writes smut, get over it)**

**The french is from google translate. I know it's not Cajun french, but I can't find a translator for that. If anyone knows of one, let me know.**

**I don't own Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls."**

The side of Amber's face was pressed to the mirrored wall, her body pinned by what felt like a wall of granite pushing into her back. The driving bass beat of an old Queen song thumped around them, and she had to grin despite the tension.

How fitting.

"The fuck ya smilin' at?" Daryl growled in her ear while grabbing both her wrists to pin them above her head in one of his broad fists.

"The song." she answered. He shifted behind her and she could see him dimly in their reflection, cocking his head to listen. Then he recognized it and grinned evilly.

"Hell, yeah. That's it." He said, voice dropping, full of lust. She felt his cock grind into her ass and moaned. If drinking and Queen songs made him want rough sex, she was going to make room in their trailer for a full bar and a shrine to Freddie Mercury.

_Are you gonna take me home tonight?_

_Ah, down beside that red fire light?_

_Are you gonna let it all hang out?_

_Fat bottomed girls, you make the_ _rocking world go 'round!_

This time she had known who was touching her the second he picked her up. The hand over her mouth had been rough, large enough to encompass her jaw in his palm. It smelled of soap, smoke, and whiskey. He had picked her up without any hesitation, without even grunting. She had been immediately pushed against the mirror. He kicked the door shut behind them and the locked it in one movement before returning to her body. That's when she had recognized the song.

Daryl hooked two fingers under the string of her panties and snapped it hard against her ass.

"Told ya I was gonna teach ya a lesson. Ya cain't flash this sweet ass all over." My god, if he didn't quit growling in her ear like that, she was going to come in her jeans like a teenage boy. Maybe she should push him a little. If he wanted to play, she'd play.

"Fuck you, prospect!"

Amber heard him take in a sharp breath just before his hand left her ass to wrap his fist in her hair and pull back while her wrists were still pinned to the mirror.

"The hell did you say?" Holy shit, his scruff was rubbing hard right below her ear and it was doing funny things to her body much lower down.

"Said..."she swallowed, fighting down a moan "Fuck you, prospect!" Daryl released her hair and she was flush with the mirror again.

"Ya think yer a bad bitch don't ya?" His free hand slid back down over her ass, squeezing hard. Amber came up on her tiptoes, whimpering. It was like everything was over sensitized for some reason. He chuckled, "Ya just a dirty. little. girl."

Daryl spun her around, loosening his grip on her wrists long enough to turn them and then clamped down again. She was probably going to have bruises.

God, she hoped so.

His hand came up around her jaw, holding her in place. Daryl hovered his face over hers, eyes on her lips. A thumb rolled over the bottom one, the rough skin dragging over her softness. Then his mouth was on hers, demanding. This wasn't a kiss, he was dominating her, taking her over with his tongue and teeth. The hand left her jaw, curling around her throat for a second before she felt his heated palm slide over her chest to grasp one breast. He gripped it roughly through the bustier, groaning into her mouth. Then Daryl released her hands to work the button and zipper of her jeans. His hands slid in the back and cupped the ample flesh, pressing her hips against his in a carnal grind. Now that her hands were free she shoved them behind her to undo the short row of hooks at the low back of the bustier. She needed him to take her over, and the less clothes the easier that would be.

As soon as the bustier was undone she threw it to the side and pushed at his vest. Daryl's hands left her just long enough to shuck the vest and jerk his shirt over his head with her help. They both groaned when their chests collided again, his overheated hard body against her cool softness. Amber felt him grip her hips just before she left the ground. Her legs found their home around his waist as her arms wound around his neck. He licked and bit her shoulder all the way over to the bed where he dumped her unceremoniously. Amber looked up at him with a grin, pushed up on her elbows, breasts bobbing as her chest heaved. He stood in front of her like some kind of war god, shadows playing over him as looked down on her with his hands on his hips.

She brought one foot up, the steel toe on her boot gliding through the hair sprinkled across his stomach.

"Care to help your girl out? They zip in the back."

He smirked before unzipping and pulling off her boots to throw them over his shoulder. Her pants came next. Surprisingly he left the panties for the moment. Amber sat up, reaching for his belt but he pushed her hands away.

"Got other shit I wanna do first."

Then he was on top of her, one hand pulling on her hip to flip her on her stomach. He got his way with ease. Amber already knew she was his to do with as he pleased. And apparently what he wanted right now was a chew toy. He didn't bite hard, not yet, just enough to make her moan and twist beneath him as he made his way across her shoulders and down to her lower back. Then Daryl pushed up on his knees, straddling her legs. She felt his work roughened palms slide over her back and then lower still.

"Fuckin' love your ass."

_I've seen every blue eyed floozy on the way_

_But their beauty and their style_

_Went kind of smooth after a while_

_Take me to my lovely lady every time_

The sting of Daryl's hand striking her bottom brought Amber's head off the bed, back arching as a low "oh" broke from her throat. Then he was kneading the stinging skin, soothing it.

"Gonna learn, girl."

She nodded, unable to conjure words from the lust soaked mess of her brain. He struck her again, a little harder. She jerked as if shot, rubbing her thighs together trying to get some kind of friction at her soaked core.

"Daryl...please..."

He leaned over her, mouth over her ear. "Told ya I was gonna teach ya a lesson. Whose sweet ass is this?" He brought his hand down again, now on the other side.

"Ah...yours..." she choked out.

"What? I can't hear ya." Again, this time harder and then the kneading.

"Yours!...only yours...please..."

"Please what?"

"I need..."

He loomed over her, "What do ya need, girl?"

"Make me come..."

Daryl growled at her words, then his fingers slipped under the string of the underwear, traveling lightly over the curve of her ass before dipping under her, sliding just over her wet. Amber lifted her hips and spread her legs like a cat in heat, beyond dignity by this point.

His fingertips played over her folds, teasing her, avoiding the one place her body was begging him to touch. She jerked her hips every time he got close, only to have him move away before making contact. Finally, her own hands tried to snake down under her.

"Uhuh, none a that." Daryl gathered her wrists again, pinning them above her head like at the mirror. He teased more, until she was nearly sobbing.

"Please..."

"Ya gonna wear this shit anymore, where somebody 'sides me can see?"

"No...no..." Amber shook her head franticly.

He inched dangerously close to her clit, it actually twitched in anticipation. Then one finger pulled back the hood from it, exposing the swollen nub.

"Ya sure?"

"Yes! Yes! Just please! Touch me!"

Daryl must have believed her because he brought the tip of his middle finger down directly on it, flicking over it firmly. Amber shrieked, her hips wantonly riding his hand for the shameful few seconds it took her to reach a body shattering orgasm. She bucked beneath him, screaming into the sheets under her face.

Amber lay jerking on the bed, listening to the obscene wet sounds of Daryl sucking her from his fingers while muttering about "fuckin' sweet pussy". Damn, he was a dirty bastard.

How did she ever get so lucky?

She rubbed her body against the sheets, still weak but knowing they weren't done. There was the jingle of a belt buckle, which might as well have been a damn dinner bell as far as her lady parts were concerned because they suddenly recovered from their previous workout, ready for the main event. His boots thudded to the floor and then jeans and boxers fell softer. Amber moved to roll over on her back but a strong hand on her leg stopped her. Then his arm slid under her hips, moving her up and back. Amber pushed up on her hands and Daryl kneed her legs apart. His hands moved firmly over her back and then her still red ass, fingers catching under the g-string for a second before ripping the wet scrap from her body.

If either had been of a mind to keep track, that was now two pairs of panties he owed her.

"Gonna fuck ya so hard..." he growled, positioning himself behind her. Amber pressed her hips back in encouragement, moaning when she felt the head of his cock nudge her still sensitive flesh. Then he slammed home, both of them crying out sharply at the fit.

"Goddamn," Daryl breathed out between clenched teeth, "still so fuckin tight."

Amber just whimpered, pressing back, needing just that last little bit she knew he had held back. Daryl withdrew completely and then drove in to the hilt, his body now completely flush with hers. She could feel him driving against the end of her, filling her so completely, tiny pinpricks as her body acclimated to his length and width. This position was the most intense so far, it hurt so _good_.

"Ya a'ight?" he gasped behind her.

"Oh god yes..." she mewled back, hips tilting, begging his for movement.

Daryl chuckled at her answer and motion. "Damn, I love you."

They were both too drunk on alcohol and lust to realize what he had said.

Daryl began to move, slowly at first but quickly working up to fulfill the promise he made just before entering her. Their heavy breathing and the wet sounds of their bodies mingled with the bass throbbing through the walls from the main room. Daryl leaned over her, one arm curling around her so his hand could move between her thighs. He circled her clit in time with his thrusts.

"Look, girl. Look at you."

Amber turned her head to the mirrored wall to their side. The only light was from a low watt bulb in the lamp beside the bed. Her lips were swollen and red, hair swept off her back and spilling onto the bed. Full breasts were moving in time with his thrusts, Daryl's rock hard body moving behind her soft thighs.

_Ain't no beauty queens in this locality_

_But I still got my treasure_

_Still got my greatest pleasure..._

"See, girl. See how pretty ya are..."

"Oh, god, Daryl..." she keened. This was too much, watching him mount her like this. If a person could die by fuck, this was her night to go.

"Shhhh...just watch...gonna take care a ya..."

He sped up, driving into her while his hand worked her.

"Ya mine?"

"Yes, fuck yes."

"Ya sure?"

"Yes...only yours...always yours..."

"Then come for me..."

He didn't have to ask, it was already building again. This was different from before. This was a languid warmth that started at her core to spread outward. Wet flooded where his hand and cock worked, and he growled, knowing she was about to push him to his own end. Then she started contracting around him, deep pulling waves as he bucked behind her. Daryl had never felt anything like it, and his hips stuttered in shock and pleasure. Amber was only able to let loose a long low "oooooooooooh" as her body melted under his. He ground his hips against her ass, forehead dropping to her back. There was no breathing, no thinking, just that pulling squeeze in her body that demanded he press as hard as he could, find out just how far he could fall as her body pulled him over the cliff.

They didn't move for a long time, Amber's head hanging between her arms while he panted against her back. Then she shifted forward and they fell gracelessly onto the bed, Daryl half on top of her, both of them still belly down.

Finally Daryl flopped over, pulling her to lay across his chest. He hooked his vest off the floor and pulled the cigarettes and lighter from the pocket. He went to light it himself but Amber fumbled it out of his hand without opening her eyes and stuck it in her own mouth. He snorted before holding the lighter to the tip, expecting her to hand it over. Instead she started to smoke it herself.

"I thought ya didn't smoke?"

"Everybody smokes after sex like that."

He lit his own then, and frowned a little.

"Ya don't need ta start that shit."

Amber turned to look up at him with her chin on his chest while reaching over to flick her ash into the ashtray on the nightstand. "Yes, daddy. You gonna spank me if I do?"

"Do more than than that. I'm serious."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes sir. Just this one. I promise."

They finished smoking, the only sound the music from the main room. Amber hopped off the bed to grab her phone from the back pocket of her jeans before returning to his side. Daryl looked down at her curiously as she typed.

"What'r ya doin?"

"Texting mama, letting her know where I disappeared to."

"Yer tellin' her we was fuckin', ain't ya?"

Red was creeping up Daryl's face and Amber grinned. The man had just spanked her, and then fucked her senseless in front of a mirror and still got embarrassed when her mother knew they were together. He was such a wonderful mix of opposites.

"Not exactly." she hesitated "We spending the night in here?"

He shrugged "Don't think I need ta drive."

"I agree."

He wrinkled up his nose and looked at the sheets, seeming to suddenly remember other people used this bed.

"Sheets are changed every time it's used, Daryl. And it didn't bother you until now."

"Didn't think about it till now. Yeah, we'll stay."

Amber sent the short message to her mama. To her credit, it did not include the word fuck.

Bam. Mirror room. Goodnight. -A & D

_...woman, you made a bad boy out of me_

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

**In a clubhouse outside New Orleans**

The thin bearded man hung up his phone, sliding it into the pocket of his vest before speaking. "Elle est à l'il."

"English, dumbass." warned the mexican that leaned against the doorway.

"Martinez, after all these years you think you would have picked up at least a little french." Said the third figure sitting in shadows behind the desk. "She is there, at the clubhouse."

"And Kaye?"

"Still chasing that bitch after all this time, I see."

"We have an agreement, Philip. You get the girl, I get Kaye back."

The bearded man laughed. "Il n'a pas appris sa leçon la dernière fois."

"Oui, Allen. I agree." Philip leaned forward, elbows on the desk.

Martinez shifted his eyes angrily between the two men. "So we take them tonight? Tomorrow?"

"Patience. I want us both close when it goes down. Allen, tell your man to send a message to both. Don't touch the women, not yet. Just a little reminder of the mistake Barry is making. I didn't bring a new cook in from across the country just to have half a state remain cut off from distribution."

"The girl was with someone." Allen said, accent heavy.

"Boyfriend or bodyguard?" asked Philip.

"Both."

"A Demon?" Martinez rounded the corner of the desk to sit on the edge.

"Prospect. Our source said he may be a problem." Allen lit a cigarette.

Martinez laughed. "I'll handle him, just like I did that motherfucker Norm."

"Martinez," Philip reminded "if I remember correctly, Norm almost killed you, after you cut him."

Martinez shrugged. "No problem. I'll kill him, and that prospect this time. Soon right?"

Philip rested his chin on his tented fingers. "Yes. Soon."


	28. Chapter 28

**Wheeee, that was some smutty smut! Thank you all for the reviews! They keep me pumped! In response to one:Yes, from now on I will give the translation of any french, I apologize for that oversight.**

Amber slipped out from under Daryl's arm and padded to the bath attached to the mirror room. She quickly peed and then reached under the sink to grab a washcloth from under the sink. Thank god her mom was such a clean freak and kept toiletries in all the bathrooms. A glance in the mirror told her the smoky eye make-up from the night before had degraded to raccoon sometime in the night as they slept. After scrubbing her face twice with soap she declared it passable. A shower would have to wait until she got home.

Her phone pinged, telling her there was a text. Amber went back into the mirror room where Daryl was still sprawled naked on the bed. My god, he had no right to look that good this early in the morning. She grabbed the phone from the floor.

Quit fucking and pull the sheets, you lucky little bitch. -Love Mama

Amber went to lay the phone on the nightstand but if went off again in her hand, this time the alarm. She went to cut it off but nearly dropped it when she saw the header under the alarm. It usually just said "Wake up!" but this morning it was different.

Oh, god, she had forgotten.

Amber franticly flipped over to her calendar, counting the days to make sure.

"twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty. Oh..."

"What's wrong?" Daryl said sleepily, looking up at her. He must have woken up while she was counting.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! For once something is perfectly right!"

Amber tossed the phone on the nightstand and jumped on the bed, landing on a very surprised Daryl. He let out an "oof" when she made contact.

"What the hell..."

She shut him up with a hard kiss, taking his breath. After a minute he pulled her back with his hands on her upper arms.

"What?! Ya gonna tell me?!"

Amber sat up on him, noting the pretty impressive morning wood that she felt under her. "As of today, it's been thirty days since I signed my divorce papers!"

Daryl looked up at her blankly. Apparently, he wasn't too up on Georgia family law.

"Daryl, that means my divorce is final!" she crowed, bouncing on top of him.

The next thing she knew he flipped her and had her pinned beneath him, his tongue in her mouth. Clearly, Mr. Dixon thought a celebration was in order.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

An hour later they were on the bike, pulling under the carport of the trailer. Daryl had wanted to continue the celebration by stopping for breakfast but Amber had vetoed the idea, citing her need for a shower. Daryl huffed but relented when she promised him some hot biscuits and pear preserves as soon as they got home.

Home. For once, that word felt good to him, like somewhere he actually wanted to be instead of somewhere to avoid. He was replaying the night before in his head as he kicked down the stand and pulled off his helmet. A lot was shrouded in a haze, and he tried to recall...damn, why did he have such a big mouth when he was lit?

"_Gonna fuck ya so hard..."_

Well, that was pretty okay.

"_Ya think yer a bad bitch, don't ya? Yer just a dirty. little. girl."_

Now, that was good, she had liked that.

"_Damn, I..._

Fuck, why did her daddy have to keep ordering those shots. Had she noticed he had said that? And if she did...how had she reacted? Why couldn't he remember?

Daryl jumped when he felt her arms slide around his waist. Amber had slipped off her boots as soon as she hopped off the bike so now she was at her usual height, looking up at him from the level of his chest.

"Daryl?"

He looked down at her and gave a nervous smirk, running a hand through his hair.

"What is it? Why are you acting weird?"

"uh...you 'member last night pretty good?"

Amber frowned and shrugged. "I guess. We had mind blowing sex."

"Ya remember...shit I said?"

Why couldn't he leave well enough alone?

"You said a lot. It was hot." she grinned up at him and wiggled her eyebrows.

"How 'bout...right after I got in ya? After I asked if ya was a'ight?"

_Shut up! She said it all was hot! She don't remember! Don't complicate this shit!_

Amber pursed her lips and propped her head on Daryl's chest as she thought. He nervously fiddled with her hair, not quite able to pull his arms around her. What if she remembered? What would she say? Fuck, he had never said that to NOBODY, drunk or not. He HAD said he would take a bullet for her. That was basically the same as saying THAT wasn't it?

Except it wasn't the same.

Amber's head popped back and she looked up at him surprised.

"Oh, yeah, that."

Yep, she remembered. Daryl was searching her eyes for something, any clue as to what was coming. She was going to think he was some kind of...something. Just over two weeks, and he says shit like that. Not that it was necessarily untrue, he just couldn't go there.

She must have seen the panic in his eyes. "Daryl, you were drunk...it's okay...don't worry..."

He didn't like what he saw, it was the same look she had that night that he told her he wouldn't dance with her in the trailer. It made him want to kick his own ass.

Disappointment.

"I meant it."

SHIT! Why did he just DO shit without thinking when it came to her? It's like the second he thought he had hurt her, he would do anything, say anything just to make it better. Even telling the truth when a lie would be a whole lot simpler, a lot less likely to leave him devastated. Taking a bullet for her would be a whole lot easier than pulling his heart out of his chest and handing it to her like this.

"Don't say that just because you think it's what I want to hear."

Daryl shook his head, looking up at the metal ceiling above them. Did she not believe him? Where did they go after this?

"Damn, Amber. I just...I said it drunk 'cause I'm too much of a pussy to say it sober, a'ight?"

Amber nodded solemnly, her lashes wet. And what was he supposed to do with that?

"It was true. So don't fuckin cry. Please."

She swallowed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. He finally wrapped his arms around her and she dropped a kiss over his heart. Just like that night in the trailer, it burned him through his shirt. He had fucked her ten ways to Sunday in the last nine days, but she could barely press her lips to his chest and it fuckin burned like he had been lit on fire and made his chest ache.

She looked up at him. "It's true for me too, Desperado. Now kiss me."

He knew what she meant and kissed her slow and gentle, putting into it what he couldn't say without liquid confidence. Then she pulled back with a smile.

"Hurry up and stow those helmets. I think I owe you some biscuits."

Daryl nodded and Amber headed toward the porch. He had just unsnapped the saddlebags when he heard her scream.

Two seconds later Daryl burst through the porch door, gun drawn. Amber was kneeling on the floor, bent over a familiar form.

"Merle!" Daryl fell on the other side of his brother's body. For a second he thought the worst but then he grabbed his shoulder to turn him over. Merle let loose a groan that was one of the best sounds Daryl had ever heard.

"Took ya fuckin' long enough, little bro..." Merle gasped, arm wrapped around his chest. He had a gash over one eye which was turning a spectacular shade of purple and his lip was split. He was also sporting a large knot on the back of his head, visible through his short hair.

"Who, Merle? Who did this?" Amber asked, hands running lightly over his face and chest, checking for further injuries.

"Dunno, sugar. Jumped me from behind...was dark."

"When?!" Daryl demanded, grabbing Amber's arm. "They still here?"

Merle shook his head. "Naw, it was round midnight. Saw a light down here, knew y'all was still gone. Came down and they jumped me from behind. I got in some licks 'til they bashed ma head. They left right after redecoratin'." He nodded his head toward the front wall of the house.

Amber and Daryl looked up at the same time. Her hand went to her mouth and a small cry escaped before she could stop herself. One of her chickens had been gutted and was hanging from the doorknob. Merle's assailants had used its blood to write sloppily on the side of the house "Le Mechant allons venir.". Her door read "Princesse pute".

"Ya know what it means?" Daryl asked lowly.

Amber didn't answer. Daryl turned to her slowly and got his answer. She had paled to a deathly white.

"Sugar?" Merle asked from below.

Daryl reached over his brother to gently grasp her elbow. "Tell me, girl."

Amber swallowed before speaking in a wavering voice, her head tilted to the front wall."Le Mechant 'the wicked' are coming."

"Door too. I ain't so stupid I don't recognize the word princess. What's the other?"

"Doesn't matter." she whispered "Just must be what they're calling me."

"Tell me." Daryl growled.

Amber looked down at the floor and murmured something so low Daryl couldn't hear. But Merle did.

Daryl opened his mouth to ask her to repeat herself but his brother stopped him.

"Means whore, brother. Don't make'r say it again." he said quietly.

Daryl didn't realize his hand had tightened on Amber's arm until he saw her wince. He dropped his hand and shoved the gun in his pants, trying to get a hold of himself before he did something stupid. Then his phone went off. He was going to ignore it but Amber's head swiveled in his direction. Her cheeks were wet. "Answer it, it may be daddy, they may have hit someone else too."

It was Barry and they had. Daryl hung up after a short explanation and some instructions from him. "The junkyard. The first part said the same, killed one'a their dogs instead'a a chicken. Door was different, said la preci..."he stumbled over the foreign word.

"La preciosa." Amber explained. "That part's spanish. It means beautiful one, it's what Martinez calls Kaye."

Daryl nodded. "Your mama and daddy's house too. But your brother surprised 'em before they could kill anythin' or start paintin'."

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, your daddy said he was banged up, but still a'ight enough to ride. They're on their way over here now with some others. Norm's losin his shit, won't leave Kaye, even with someone else t'watch her. Yer daddy said t'not touch any of it or say anythin' to your Maw an' Paw. He'll handle it."

Merle spoke up. "If y'all don't mind, can I at least get up and in the house before the meanest sons-a-bitches in Georgia get here? I got a reputation ta uphold."

"Oh God." Amber jumped, having forgotten Merle's injuries in the heat of the moment. She and Daryl helped him into the house, after Daryl cut the chicken carcass down from the door. He knew her daddy said not to disturb anything, but there was no way he was going to make her touch the body of one of her beloved pets after it was mutilated.

They settled Merle on the couch. Amber pulled an impressive first aid kit out from under her counter and sat beside him. She attended to the cuts on his face, butterflying the one above his eye while Daryl paced chewing the skin around his thumbnail. Then she grabbed the bottom of his wife beater to pull it off so she could check his ribs. He gently circled her wrist with his hand and shook his head. "S'alright sugar. I'm fine."

Daryl stopped pacing and put his hands on his hips. "Dammit, Merle. Ya think she ain't seen mine? Now let'er check ya!"

Merle sighed and gave her a long look before pulling his shirt off with her help. Amber prodded his side, his scars the least of her concerns. She finally declared his ribs most probably bruised and wrapped them with the ace bandage from the kit. She saw the looks both men were giving her and answered their unspoken question.

"Worked my way through college as a paramedic. Comes in pretty handy considering the company I keep, don't you think?"

Before they could answer the roar of bikes crossing the dam came across the yard. Amber and Daryl stepped out to the porch. Barry and Leon were joined by Tyreese and several prospects Daryl had met the night before. They parked in the front yard. Daryl could tell Barry was just barely holding on to his composure when he saw what was painted on the front of the house. He immediately barked at the prospects to dig some scrub brushes and buckets out of one of the outbuildings and get to scrubbing the blood off the wood. Then he, Tyreese, and Leon followed Daryl and Amber into the house.

Amber introduced everyone to Merle. Daryl had a hard time hiding his surprise when Merle shook Tyreese's hand. Either prison had helped adjust his brother's warped world view or that hit to the head was harder than they thought. Leon just gave him the same sneer that he reserved for Daryl. And like Daryl, Merle gave it right back. Leon's sneer was a little affected by the new bruises though. On top of the almost faded one from Daryl's right hook a week before, he now sported a swollen, possibly broken nose and a black eye. His swagger had been reduced to a limp.

Leon leaned against the front door arms crossed and Tyreese had taken one of the barstools. Daryl sat next to Merle on the couch, Amber squished between them. Barry paced across the suddenly full living area.

"Merle, Daryl told me what happened, but let's go over a few details. When did you see the light down here?"

"Round midnight. Know I left Jake's about quarter till and saw the light when I pulled in."

So much for that rest Merle was supposed to get yesterday. That's where he had ended up after they left.

"Okay. Leon said he was jumped out at our place around two. Norm and Kaye came in around one and nothing was done then. So their house must have been last. How many were there?"

"Cain't say for sure. More than one I know. As many as four. Fucker hit me from behind. I got in a few though before they dropped me."

"You took on that many?"

Merle shrugged "They was fuckin' around my bro and your girl. What else was I gonna do? I wish I had another go at'em."

Barry stopped for a minute in front of him, looking thoughtful as he stroked his long fu-manchu mustache. Amber tensed, she knew that look. The last time she had seen it was a week ago.

"Daddy, I swear to god, if you say you're impressed I'll throw something at you."

Barry gave her a grin while Tyreese chuckled quietly.

"Pooshie, am I that predictable?"

"You've already drug Daryl into this, leave Merle out!"

"For once I agree with her, Daddy, this is ridiculous!" Leon glowered from the doorway.

"I'm president, boy." Barry answered his son without turning around. He addressed Merle. "You ride that Triumph Bonneville Daryl was on right?"

"Yep."

"Not my choice of brand, but it's pretty sweet."

Merle nodded. "Tricked her out myself."

"Daddy, STOP!" Amber begged from her seat.

Merle silenced her with a pat on her knee. "S'alright sugar. I like where this is goin'."

Barry continued, "You ride and handle a gun as good as your brother?"

"Better. Who ya think taught him?"

Daryl scowled. "Fuckin liar..."

"Shut up, boy, the president is talkin'" Merle said, still grinning at Barry.

"You ever in a club?"

"Not one as nice as yours."

Truth be told, the only 'club' Merle had been a member of was the kind full of idiots who like to dress up in bedsheets and burn crosses. He decided that would be best kept to himself.

Barry nodded, "Want to prospect for the Demons? Only thing you have to do right now is help your brother keep my baby girl safe. May give you that chance to take those fuckers on again."

"Sounds like a good damn deal, pres. Where do I pick up my vest?"

Leon turned on his heel and left, slamming the front door behind him. Amber gave Daryl a quick "Going to get in the shower." and then hurried to the bedroom to grab her clothes before heading to the bathroom. That left the four men remaining in the living room. Barry gave the Dixons the basic rundown of what was going on. He had had a hard time deciding whether to keep the three women in danger together or separated.

On one hand, if they were together the club could concentrate their man and firepower to keep them safe. But it would also make them one big target, if they were compromised, all three would be lost. Tyreese had championed the idea to keep them separate. The brothers agreed. Norm would be with Kaye, of course, with Dogg as back up. Tyreese would be with Barry for Debra. And the Dixon's had Amber. Barry would pull on every source he could to find out who was working for Le Mechant in the area. They may have to get "proactive". Merle and Daryl let him know they were in for that too, if someone was coming they would rather deal with them before they set foot out the door. Just waiting for the enemy to come knocking was too little and would enable them to get too close. Barry and Tyreese stood to leave then, after telling Merle he would send a prospect by with a vest and a phone so he could stay in touch. Amber was to be with one of them at all times, preferably both. They were also supposed to keep her on the farm as much as possible, which would be a hard job. Merle was going to start sleeping on the couch there at the trailer. After that night's events, Barry was sure his in-laws would have little problem with it.

As Barry passed Daryl on the way out he stopped and put his hand on his shoulder. "Boy, I...I'm trusting you with my little girl." Daryl ducked his head, his answer so low it was hard to hear.

"Yessir."

"And you understand what you may have to do? Your brother is military, so I know he knows what it's like to kill a man."

Daryl nodded, meeting the older man's eyes. "I'll do what I gotta t'take care'a her."

"I believe you. Call me if ANY thing happens, or if you need anything. I'll stay in touch every couple hours otherwise."

They left then, leaving Daryl and Merle on the couch. Merle lit a cigarette and Daryl went to light one of his own.

"So, ya gonna go in there or not?" Merle asked.

"In where?"

"In that bathroom with her."

"Merle, ya pervert, this ain't the time for fuckin!" Daryl hissed, sounding disgusted.

Merle shook his head slowly at him. "For you to be the sweet one, ya sure act stupid about this shit sometimes."

"The hell are ya talkin about?"

Merle leaned toward him and motioned toward the bathroom door with his cig. "Lil' Sugar came home this mornin to a fuckin death threat written in the blood of her pet, and me beat ta hell. A whole goddamn gang is after her. What do YOU think she's doin in that bathroom? WASHIN? Now get your head outta yore ass and get in there!"

Daryl hung his head. Merle was right. Amber had to be scared shitless and here he was about to have a smoke. He walked over to the bathroom door and could hear the water running, but it didn't sound like the shower. Amber had only taken showers, not baths since he had known her, despite the trailer having one of those big glamour tubs. He went to knock and then stopped. He was going in there whether or not she told him he could. He tried the knob and it was locked. Daryl shot Merle a look. His brother rolled his eyes and sauntered over. In about three seconds he had the lock picked with the toothpick from his swiss army knife. Daryl decided not to ask him where he learned that particular skill.

Merle took his seat back on the couch and Daryl slowly opened the door. The water was still running in the tub. Amber was curled up as tightly as possible, sitting in the very back of the tub, almost hidden by the shower curtain. Her head was on her knees much like the day before at Norm's. Her shoulders were hunched and jerking as he listened to her sobs over the water. Something about her being naked made it seem so much worse than yesterday. Then she had been angry, all piss and vinegar as Merle said. Now she just looked so damn broken and small.

The running water kept her from hearing him as he approached. This was one of those times where Daryl was at a total loss as to what to do and Norm wasn't here this time to do his pointing shit to give him a clue. He was going to have to rely on his gut feeling again. That shouldn't have been so scary, he did it plenty of times out in the woods. A track would go cold and he would just stand there a minute, looking both ways waiting until his gut told him which way to take. But this time the stakes were so much higher. Losing a buck was one thing, but losing her...he couldn't think about that right now. The idea of someone putting their hands on her, hurting her the way he had been told Martinez hurt Kaye when she had been taken...it made his hands ache for his bow, the gun, whatever it took. Barry didn't need to worry if Daryl would kill to protect her, the problem would be him not being able to stop once he got started.

Daryl sank down into the floor next to the tub, facing Amber's trembling form with his elbows on the side. Surely she had already sensed his presence. What did he do now? He was so damn tired of talking, it seemed like that was all they had done the last two days. All that left was doing, and that was what he understood.

Amber's body jerked and Daryl winced. She had cried herself sick and had started dry heaving. He realized that in all the excitement of the clubhouse the night before and the mess this morning she hadn't eaten since lunch the day before. He made a mental note to make sure she ate as soon as they finished up in the bathroom. Her body jerked again and he leaned over the tub, hands ghosting over her hair.

"Don't...baby girl...please..." he pleaded. She shook her head once. What did that mean? No, leave me alone? No, I can't stop? Or just no. I refuse to deal with this right now? Daryl couldn't take this anymore. Clearly, bathrooms were just going to be their place to deal with the big stuff. Time to just do.

He reached behind his head with one hand and pulled off his vest and shirt with one movement. Then the water was shut off before he pulled off his boots and socks. He came up on his knees to undo his jeans and thought better of it for a second. He didn't want her to think this had to do with sex.

"Look at me, girl..." he said low, fingers under her chin. Amber's face was swollen and red, eyes bloodshot. And she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "There room 'nough in there for one more?"

Amber took a deep shuddering breath and nodded slowly before scooting up toward the front of the tub. Daryl stood long enough to get rid of his jeans and boxers and then slowly lowered himself into the water behind her. He had to grit his teeth for a second, she had it as hot as it would go. Once he got settled, he expected Amber to automatically sit back against him but she remained curled up at the faucet.

"Hey...girl...c'mere..." he murmured, dragging an arm around her waist. She came back reluctantly against him, going to sit between his legs with her back against his chest. Daryl shook his head. "Uhuh, wanna see your face..." He braced his legs against the sides of the tub and lifted her to sit sideways in his lap, head against his shoulder with her lower legs propped on the side of the tub. They were probably going to end up sloshing water all over the floor but he didn't give a damn, there were more important matters at hand. They sat without talking for a few minutes as she snubbed (as his mama had called the shuddering breathes after bouts of true tears) into his chest. He stroked her jaw with a calloused finger while pressing his lips to the top of her head.

"Daryl, I'm not afraid to die..." Amber said suddenly. Her words drove a knife into his heart, making his breath strangled for a second before he forced himself to fight down the urge to drive his fist into the tiled wall beside them. His anger wasn't at her but at the bastards doing this to her.

"Don't say that again..." he warned, keeping his voice low. She nodded, feeling the tension in his body.

"Me n'Merle gonna keep ya safe, y'hear?" Daryl said, gently holding her jaw so that their noses were only inches apart. "'Member last night, when I asked if you was mine?"

"Yeah."

"I ain't never had nothin' as good as you. And I ain't givin' ya up, never." Daryl smirked at her "I'm jus' greedy like that."

Amber let out a breath, the closest she was going to get to a laugh right then. He could feel her slowly coming back to him, her body relaxing into his. He allowed himself to kiss her, tenderly, holding himself back. He could taste the salt from her tears on her lips and somehow it made her mouth taste sweeter. Despite his efforts, his body started to respond under her. Amber looked up at him questioningly and he shook his head.

"Naw, girl. Not right now." Daryl shifted her until her head lay in the middle of his chest. He picked up the big plastic cup from where it sat behind his shoulder and wet her hair. Then he washed it, not even sure if he was doing it right. He had washed her body once before, the previous week in the shower. But that had been about apologizing for what he had done to her body on the bike. This time he was just taking care of her, he was...dammit, he was loving her. The thought of that made his hands shake and he kept having to swallow past that odd knot in his throat.

Daryl must have been doing something right, because she kept sighing into his chest. Then he washed her body, careful to keep it non-sexual, even when it came to the parts that were usually very sexual. He kissed the bruises on her wrists his hands had made the night before. There was none of the shame he had felt the last time. She was his to mark, she wanted him to. And he was going to make damn sure his hands would be the only ones to mark her, ever.

He helped her out of the tub and then quickly washed himself as she dried. Then he stepped out and toweled off, tucking the towel around his waist, having not thought to bring any clothes into the bathroom. Amber dressed in some plain white cotton panties and bra, pulling on jean cut offs and that Mossy Oak pink tank top over it. Daryl couldn't help but grin at her. The bad biker bitch was gone for the moment, leaving him with his sweet farm girl. He didn't mind one bit.

Amber had quickly combed out her hair while he sat on the counter watching. Then she piled it into a bun on top of her head before grabbing his hand.

"C'mon, Desperado. I promised you biscuits, and you know Merle is probably hungry."

Daryl started to tell her she didn't have to cook but then he remembered how it soothed her and just nodded. Besides, it was her biscuits and pear preserves, he wasn't stupid. She walked out the bathroom door and turned toward the living room and he followed behind, crashing into her back when she stopped short.

Merle was seated at the bar, stuffing his face from a huge plate of eggs, grits, and sausage. He looked up at Amber and Daryl, grinning like a cheshire cat. Merle wasn't the one making Daryl feel very naked under that towel though.

Roxie Dover turned from the stove, wiping her hands on her apron. Her raised eyebrow was the only indicator of any surprise at her granddaughter and the mostly nude young man standing behind her. Her hands went to her hips.

"Amber, I figured y'all still hadn't had breakfast after all the mess of this morning. Best get over here and fix your plate." she turned back to the stove, "And Daryl, please get some clothes on. You're not eating breakfast half naked."

"Yes ma'am." he choked out.

Well, what else was he going to say?


	29. Chapter 29

**First, I want to thank Shelly and Kaye, who pm'ed me today. It was one of 'those' days and those emails helped me get through it , along with all my other wonderful reviews.**

**I really hope I don't lose any readers over this chapter. I think it really illustrates how Amber, and now Daryl walks between two totally different worlds.**

_Need something to take edge off. Send with Merle's vest/phone. -Thanks, Pooshie_

Amber pressed the send button, the message now on it's way to her mother, before sliding the phone into the back pocket of her cut offs. She turned her attention back to her breakfast plate. Despite the shock of finding her Mamaw in her kitchen a half hour before, she had been hungry, finishing off the eggs and grits before dishing herself up another plate. Daryl had quickly slunk into the bedroom, coming out a few minutes later wearing a black sleeveless tee and a faded pair of jeans. He left his boots in the bathroom, choosing to remain barefoot until after their late breakfast. Merle was in his spot at the counter so he took his plate from Roxie and sat behind Amber on the couch. They ate in the uncomfortable quiet, which prompted Amber to send the text to her mother. Merle finished up first and walked to the door with a "Goin' ta smoke" and a smirk playing on his lips.

Roxie slid into his seat across from Amber and reached across the table to take her granddaughters hand.

"How are you doing, baby?"

Amber shrugged, still looking down at her plate. She knew Daryl sat behind her listening as he slipped on his boots.

"I'm fine. No more scared than Mama or Kaye." She nodded her head toward the thick book that sat on the end of the bar. A small vial lay on top. "You brought your Bible and your anointing oil down here. Planning on doing some preaching and praying?"

Roxie chuckled softly. "Praying is definitely in order, don't you agree, baby? You were raised believing, and I know you still do in your own way. As for the preaching..." she leaned over, eyeballing Daryl where he sat on the couch, working on his thumbnail, "this isn't the time. Daryl, honey, please stop chewing on your poor nails and ask your brother to come in for me."

He jumped up nervously, and walked over to the door to stick his head out.

"Hey, her Maw wants ya in here."

Merle stubbed out his cigarette and leaned in the open doorway to Amber's right as Daryl stood behind her. She had the feeling the Dixons were about to get a crash course in Pentecostal grannies.

"I've been deep in prayer over the last few days." Roxie began, "I had the feeling something like this was going to happen. And I believe God has given me some scriptures appropriate for the situation. And no, they do not reference fornication."

Merle snickered and Daryl shot him a warning look, his face burning a deep red. Roxie pulled her Bible to sit in front of her on the counter, turning the worn pages to a spot she had marked. She sat the vial of anointing oil just to the right of the book.

"Amber, baby, go get your gun and your knife."

Amber slid from her stool and walked past a wide eyed Daryl to go to the bedroom and rummage in her nightstand. It had been so long since there had been a need for her to wear the weapons, over five years. The Glock 19 still felt the same in her hand though, as did the switchblade with it's pink pearl handle. She returned to the counter in the living area dropping her weapons on the counter. Roxie nodded her head to the men.

"Your turn boys. Weapons please." Both glanced toward Amber who nodded her head with a small smile. First Merle's .45 slid onto the counter, then joined by Daryl's new Desert Eagle and his buck knife.

Roxie gestured toward the bow. "That too, and the arrows or bolts or what ever you call them." The crossbow and it's bolts were crowded onto the small counter. The old woman opened the vial and touched her fingertip to the opening. She then laid her finger on the handle of every weapon and the body of every bolt. Her voice rose, thin but strong as she prayed, first that the weapons not be needed, that another way be found. But then she prayed that if evil men still sought the life of an innocent, that bullets and arrows would fly true, knives be as extensions of the hands that wielded them. Amber could see both the Dixons were fidgeting, clearly not used to such displays.

The prayer was concluded and Roxie stepped in front of her granddaughter. She touched the oil again, then Amber's forehead. Roxie addressed the wide eyed men.

"Don't worry, boys, we'll save sacrificing the goat for next time."

Both men's eyebrows popped up, until Amber and Roxie chuckled. Daryl smirked as Merle snorted, realizing she was breaking the tension with a joke. Roxie then took up her Bible and read the ninety first Psalm over her. Amber was familiar with the Psalm of Protection and quoted parts of it with her.

_I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress..._

_You shall not be afraid of the terror by night..._

_...nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday_

_...no evil shall befall you..._

_...the serpent you shall trample underfoot_

When she was done she hugged her, both of them wiping away tears afterward. Then she stood before Merle at the door. She touched a drop of oil to his forehead, him looking like he wished he could be anywhere but there. But even big bad Merle Dixon wouldn't deny this tiny old woman this. Roxie flipped through her Bible, looking for another marked page.

"Even though Barry insists you two are Demons, as far as I am concerned, my prayers are that God will equip you as warriors on his behalf. I DO NOT condone violence." she turned for a second to make sure Daryl was listening as well. "But evil men want to kill an innocent. And if needed, I hope you will strike them down quickly, before they can do damage. Romans thirteen and four, 'For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain..."

"...for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil." Merle finished for her, nodding slowly. Roxie gave him a small smile and patted the side of his face gently before turning to Daryl.

Daryl shifted from foot to foot beside Amber, glancing at Roxie from beneath his hair. He flinched when she anointed his forehead but she just continued, smiling sadly. Amber took his hand as her grandmother spoke.

"Daryl, you've become a member of our family in the last couple of weeks. Silas and I are proud to have you sit at our table. You're a good man, whether you think so or not. This is the blessing that was given to Joseph." Daryl's head snapped up at the last word, his hand tightening around Amber's. Roxie was intent on her Bible as she read, not noticing.

"Genesis forty nine, twenty two through twenty four. Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall. The archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him. But _his_ bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob."

She laid her small hand on Daryl's arm for a second and nodded at Amber as she closed her Bible and slipped the vial of oil in the pocket of her apron. Merle stepped out of her way when she got to the door.

"Need me ta walk ya back?" he asked quietly.

Roxie shook her head. "No thank you, son." She turned to address them all. "I've put you all in the hands of God," her voice began to waver as tears filled her eyes "and it's all I know to do. Boys, of course you'll be excused from work whenever...the need arises. And it won't affect your pay, it's the least we can do."

She had been gone for several long silent moments when Amber turned to Daryl. He ran his hands through his hair and looked at the floor.

"Go on out for a while, bro." Merle said before grabbing his gun off the counter and flopping down on the couch. "I'll keep an eye on her."

Daryl gave him a nod and grabbed his bow before dropping a quick kiss on Amber's cheek. Before she could react he was gone out the door and into the woods surrounding the trailer. Amber sat down next to Merle and looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong with him? Where is he going?"

Merle sighed, "Just weirded out, sugar. Needs ta go out ta the woods for a bit, get his shit in order."

"Why? I know y'all didn't grow up in church, but it didn't freak you out."

"My little blessin' didn't have quite the punch his did." Merle looked up from his gun. "If I ask ya a question, ya swear ta tell me tha truth?"

"Well, yeah. I don't have anything to hide."

"You been in his wallet or anythin?"

"No!" Amber shook her head emphatically "I know how private he is! What does that have to do with it?"

Merle looked back down at his gun as he cleaned it.

"His middle name is Joseph."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

_At E&M Junkyard_

"What'r ya doin?"

Norm leaned against the doorway between the living room and the kitchen with his arms crossed watching Kaye as she hurriedly loaded the clip to the small automatic handgun.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Baking brownies?" She spat back bitterly.

He walked over to the table, but instead of pulling out a chair he crouched by Kaye's chair, knees popping as he sank down. He reached up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear gently.

"I buried'im under that rose bush a'yours out back."

She nodded. "Good, he pissed on it every chance he got."

Norm snorted. "Yeah."

Kaye loaded the clip and slammed it into the gun before tucking it into the holster on her hip. Then she picked up the pistol and started loading it. Norm looked over the table, she had every gun they owned laid out, along with the corresponding ammo. He sighed and placed his hand over hers, trying to take the gun out of her hands. She jerked it back, continuing her motions.

"Babe, stop." he said lowly, propping himself up on her thighs, hoping to at least get her to look at him. She shook her head.

"Gotta be ready."

"Ya think I can't take care a ya?"

Kaye laid the pistol down, and reached for the Taurus Public Defender, she wavered for a moment on the ammo. This gun took either shotgun shells or .45 caliber bullets. She decided on the shells, they do more damage up close.

"Yes, baby. You take care of me every day. But I didn't protect myself last time. This time..." her voice broke and the gun swam before her a second before the tears spilled down her cheeks. There wasn't supposed to be a this time, she should have killed that bastard ten years ago.

She felt her husbands strong but gentle hands over her own, removing the gun to lay it on the table. Norm turned her chair so that he was kneeling between her knees and he leaned over her lap to cradle her face in his hands. His thumbs brushed her wet cheeks, as his heart twisted in his chest. Twenty fuckin years and he still freaked the hell out when she cried.

"Hey...babe...listen, we got this, okay? Me, Barry,Dogg,Tyreese, even Daryl. WE GOT THIS."

Kaye shook her head. "I can't...I can't go back..."

Norm pushed up on his knees and gripped the sides of her head, making her look at him. "LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT! He's not coming! I'll kill him my own goddamn self this time! We're not waiting until they come for y'all. Barry says as soon as we get an idea where they're at..."

Kaye pushed his hands away and stood, pacing across the kitchen. Her hands traced over her lower belly and Norm's stomach rolled as he clenched his jaw. She was worrying that damn scar.

"What happen's if he comes before the sources give up anything? What then?" Her voice rose higher and more frantic with every word.

"Then I'll kill him before he lays a finger on you. I SWEAR!" He stood in front of her, blocking her way. It had been years since she had an episode like this, reliving that week in hell. He gripped her upper arms and shook her. He hated being like that, but it was the only thing that would work during times like this.

Kaye looked up at him, chest heaving. She was there, behind her eyes, she wasn't back in New Orleans anymore, at least for the moment.

"What are we doing?" her voice wavered, "You just buried Sampson in the backyard. I just packed our kids off to my mom's...when will it end?" Her knees buckled and he sunk down to the floor with her, pulling her between his legs and into his chest.

"It ends soon, when I bury my knife in that bastard's skull."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl didn't come out of the woods until mid afternoon. He had a string of squirrels slung over one shoulder and sat down on the front porch steps to clean them. Amber saw him come out of the tree line from her seat on the front porch and took out a bucket for the guts and a baking pan for the cleaned animals. Waste not want not. Looked like squirrel was on the menu for supper.

She had just sat everything down, Daryl giving her a quick nod when a bike came roaring over the damn. He tensed and grabbed the bow but she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just that prospect daddy sent over."

She yelled in the house for Merle. He came out and past them on the steps, heading toward the young man on the bike. He came back with his new vest and phone in one hand, a large padded manila envelope in the other. He handed her the envelope with a suspicious look.

"The guy said yer mama sent it, that only you could open it."

Amber sat next to Daryl on the steps, while Merle leaned on the railing. She waited until the prospect was gone before opening the envelope. First she slid out the sheet of paper.

_Only tonight. Daddy says they'll wait until at least tomorrow. Stay safe. I love you. Enjoy! -Love, Mama_

Both men leaned over to read over her shoulder. She looked up at Daryl as she slid the note back in the envelope and he gave her a scowl.

"I'm gonna have'ta whip yer ass, ain't I?"

Amber smirked back. "Just need to relax a little, Desperado." He shook his head and went back to cleaning the squirrels. Merle leaned over the railing, practically drooling.

"C'mon, sugar. Pull it out. Feels like Christmas mornin all'a sudden."

Amber laughed and pulled out her old pipe, her mom had saved it for the last six years. It was a simple spoon pipe, pink swirled blown glass. She laid it to the side and then pulled out the dime bag of marijuana, opening it to take a long sniff. Merle held out his hand, wiggling his fingers. She handed it over and he took a whiff, smile spreading over his face.

"Smells even better'n pussy. Yore daddy's got some good connections, sugar."

Amber took the bag back, offering it to Daryl. He rolled his eyes but leaned forward, nodding after a second. She slid it and the pipe back into the bag before fastening it. Those squirrels needed cooked up before she had a little fun. God knows she needed it today.


	30. Chapter 30

**Sorry this took so long, I had some stuff and thangs I had to take care of. Two and a half chapters is long enough between smut right? RIGHT?**

**Warning: use of illegal drug ahead (actually two if you count the moonshine) and explicit sex. Yeah, that's how I roll.**

Daryl had been right, Amber had to give him that much. The pan fried squirrel did go good with mashed potatoes and gravy and turnip greens. They had practically inhaled the food as soon as she put in on the table and now sat on the porch, watching the sun set as they finished their obligatory after dinner cigarettes.

Merle had went up to the rental house to get his things while Amber cooked supper. He returned in the truck, parking it in the front yard between the house and the pond. She now walked out of the house, drying her hands on a dishtowel after finishing the dishes. Merle was flipping a gold foil pack of rolling papers in between his fingers when he grinned up at her.

"We gonna light up that bud, sugar?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "Always the charmer, aren't you?"

Daryl shifted in his seat, bringing his boots up to sit them on the bannister. He looked so damn sexy like that, almost relaxed in the orange light of sunset, cig hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Amber had the thought that it would be the last time he would look like that for a long while, and it made her heart hurt. She dismissed it as best she could, walking back into the house. Tonight was not going to be wasted.

Merle's share of the pot was dumped into another baggie and tossed across the porch into his lap. He took a look at it and then back up at her.

"Aw, sugar, ya gon' make me smoke by m'self? Ya ain't no fun!"

"Sorry, I'll sit in the sacred circle with you next time, I promise."

Merle shook his head. "Damn, what's this world comin' ta when my little bro has a sweet piece a ass and all I got is Rosie Palm?"

Amber wrinkled up her nose in mock horror before shouldering her backpack and nodding at Daryl. "C'mon, Desperado. Me and you are going down to the dock."

Daryl stood lazily and stretched before following her. Amber didn't miss the slightly smug look he gave Merle as he passed. He opened the door of the truck and dug up under the driver seat for a second before coming up with a pint jar of suspicious looking liquid. Apparently, this was going to be his contribution to their evening. A blanket was pulled out of her bag and spread out on the weathered wood of the dock, Daryl sitting on it with his back against one of the pylons. He pulled off his boots while Amber pulled the pipe and remaining weed out of her bag. She sorted through it, packing the pipe as she sat cross legged across from him. Daryl watched her through half lidded eyes, opening the jar to take a drink. He offered it to her and she sat the pipe aside for a second to take it. She took a healthy sip, I mean, her preferred drink was whiskey, moonshine couldn't be much worse, could it?

The next thing she knew, her throat burned, her mouth burned, oh my god, her whole damn world was on fire. Daryl was thumping her on the back, chuckling as she choked and sputtered. It was a minute or two before she could talk.

"You sure you didn't mix your moonshine up with kerosene?" she gasped out.

"Nah. That shits smooth. Yer just not usta it."

Amber picked her pipe up and motioned for his lighter. "No, this shit is smooth. That shit is poison." She lit the bowl, taking small puffs to get it started before taking her first toke in years. Merle was right, her daddy did have good connections. The sweet flavor of burning fall leaves filled her lungs and she held it for as long as she could. Daryl was watching her with interest and she held out the pipe and lighter. He shook his head with a smirk and she nodded.

"Yes, I'm not smoking this by myself."

"How long has it been since you smoked?"

"Little over five years. How long for you?"

Daryl grinned. "Less than five years."

"Narrow that down. Years, months? Days?"

He chuckled. "Coupla months. Before you, for sure."

She took another hit, this was primo shit as his brother would say. She offered it to him again and he refused, taking another drink of the moonshine.

"Why the hell not?"

Daryl sighed and grumbled. "Ain't smokin' weed outta no goddamn pink pipe."

Amber looked down at her pipe and then back up at him. "Really? Daryl, c'mon, it's not going to make that fantastic dick of yours dry up and fall off."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ya think I got a fantastic dick?"

Amber narrowed her eyes at him. Aha, of course, use the sex! "Abso-fuckin-lutely, Desperado." She scooted up between his legs and then straddled his lap, still holding the pipe and lighter. He put down the jar and slid his hands up and down her hips. "In fact, you smoke this bud with me, I'll show you just how fantastic that dick of yours can feel." She took another hit, making sure he saw her tongue trace along the opening before she wrapped her lips around the pipe.

Daryl's eyes were on her mouth and then slid over the pipe. "Just so goddamn girly." he muttered, even though she could tell his resolve was weakening. In fact, it appeared that most of his resolve had drained down into the lump under her that was growing larger by the second.

"How about this, " she offered a compromise, "Ever been shotgunned?"

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"...ever been shotgunned?"

Fuck no he hadn't. He understood the concept, just had never been around a woman he would let do that. But just the idea of taking his hit out of Amber's pretty mouth had him hard. What the fuck was she doing to him? With her, shit he had never thought was sexual suddenly made him horny as hell.

"Naw. Ain't never trusted nobody enough."

"How about now? Not much different than kissing. And we've done that." She leaned forward and their lips met. Oh shit, she tasted like the weed, all burning sweet on top of her cool water taste. It was like she was hot and cold all at once and it did funny things to Daryl's brain, compounding the effects of the 'shine. He was gonna get so messed up tonight, there was no doubt about it. She drew back after a second and he chased her lips before opening his eyes.

"A'ight then."

Amber grinned. "Good. Now, slow and easy is the key. Just like a kiss, then I'll blow out just a little to get you started. Don't suck hard like a joint, just easy like when you breathe."

Daryl leaned back against the pylon and put his hands behind his head. "Slow n'easy. Got it." He bucked his hips under her and she almost dropped the pipe.

"Dammit! Behave! Herb first, fuck second."

He shrugged, "Git to it then."

Amber wrapped her lips around the pipe again, lighting the bowl. She took the toke and held it a second before she leaned over him. Daryl fought the urge to take his hands out from behind his head, letting her be in charge. Their lips met and she opened her mouth, blowing out after a second just like she said. He breathed it in, breathed her in. It was incredible, so fuckin' erotic. He had always wondered exactly what that word meant and now he knew.

They made it halfway through when she almost coughed and sat back, getting a little strangled. The smoke from both of them enveloped their faces as he ran his hands up and down her back.

"Shit, ya alright?"

Amber nodded and waved her hand. "Yeah, my fault. You did fine, just been a while." She waited a few minutes and then they tried again. This time it was perfect, no smoke was wasted. By the time she took the hit, held it for a second, gave it to Daryl and then he held it, there was almost no smoke left when he exhaled.

They continued, developing a slow rhythm. She would shotgun him, he would hold it, exhale and sneak a drink of shine as Amber took another hit. It wasn't rushed, lazy and perfect as the sky darkened from brilliant orange to navy blue above them.

Daryl had never been one for drugs. The only stuff he had ever touched had been occasionally smoking a joint with Merle and his buddies when he was stressed. This was different though, he could do this every day. It wasn't the weed he was addicted to though, it was her. Amber was such a perfect mix of good and bad, his sweet girl one minute and biker bitch the next.

Daryl pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes for a second. He didn't know if it was the drink or the smoke but something was hitting him pretty hard. He felt like his body was light, like it could float away, the only thing holding him to earth was his sweet girl in his lap. He looked up at her with what he knew was a goofy grin and she smiled back.

"Looks like somebody is gettin' fucked up, Desperado."

He nodded. "How 'bout we just fuck?"

"In a minute. We're almost finished." She went to light the bowl one last time but he took it from her hands.

"My turn." He didn't give a shit about the pink anymore. Daryl lit the bowl and took the last hit, burning it down. He held it, setting the pipe to the side before reaching for her, his hands gliding around her waist. He shotgunned her and they got it mostly right until the end when Amber got the giggles. It spread to him and they ended up laying on the blanket laughing. Daryl couldn't remember the last time he had just laughed, and it felt good.

"Hey, ya said somethin 'bout makin m'dick feel fuckin' fantastic, or some shit..."

Amber laughed a little more. "Obviously the weed didn't affect your love of blow jobs."

Daryl nodded, lifting the hem of her shirt over her head before reaching around for the clasp of her bra. He struggled with it for a few seconds, cursing. Why the fuck was it so hard to open now, he had gotten good at it over the last two weeks?

"Let me." Amber offered, "before you get your knife out and cut off my best bra." She had it undone with only a minimal struggle and then he had his hands on the best titties in Georgia.

"Ya know, we could do somethin a little different..." he started, moving one hand to cup her ass. "since ya feelin' so relaxed an all..."

Amber rose up on one elbow and smirked at him. "Daryl, I'm up for anything with you." then she kissed him hard and he started to get his hopes up. "But there ain't enough weed in Georgia for me to let you in my ass." and there they went.

"Fuck." He could feel himself pouting. "Might as well not, yer pussy's s'tight, your ass'd probably snap it right off."

"Ah, Dixon, that silver tongue of yours is such a turn on." Amber was pulling at his shirt now, it took Daryl a second to realize he needed to sit up and help. Then she straddled him and he was lost for a second in those titties as they bobbed over him. Amber leaned over, dragging her nipples over his chest before ducking her head to take one of his own in her mouth. God DAMN, that was another one of those things he didn't know he liked until her. Her pretty little pink lips and tongue working him there made him want them somewhere else even more.

Daryl put his hands on her shoulders and pushed down gently as he lifted his still jean clad hips. Being high made him bold, asking for what he wanted from her. Amber laughed against his chest. Her hands went to his belt, the jingle loud in the night. The button, the zipper, and then he found a little freedom from his tight prison. She hooked her fingers in his waistband and tugged. This time he didn't forget to help out, picking up his ass so she could pull the pants down and then off. He had his eyes closed just enjoying the feelings, for once in his life. Amber knelt between his legs, running her hands in sweeping strokes from his knees, up his thighs, stomach, chest and then back down. She was touching him everywhere but there, where he needed her. He could feel his cock laying hot and hard against his lower belly.

"Quit bein' a fuckin tease..." he heard himself growl.

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"Quit bein a fuckin tease..."

Amber grinned to herself. Truth was she wasn't being a tease, she was just enjoying the magnificent sight before her. The light was low, only coming from the full moon now over them. But my god, he was gorgeous. From his boyishly tousled hair, down across those muscled shoulders and all the way down. But now that he brought it up, maybe a bit of teasing was in order after how he did her last night. He was more fucked up than she was, maybe she could take advantage of it.

Amber reached up and took her hair down, flipping her head over to run her hands through it. It brushed over his cock and she heard him take a sharp breath. A second later she felt his hands wind theirselves in the strands and tug her toward his swollen member.

Even fucked up, he was fast.

Amber dropped a peck on the head, and then her tongue dipped out to catch the bead of pre-cum that was already there. Was that a whine she heard? This was going to be too damn easy.

She flattened her tongue and licked him from base to tip. He jerked under her and moaned. She made note for the first time (had she not been paying attention before?) that his pubic hair was at least two shades lighter than the hair on his head. She would have to make a joke about his cuff not matching his collar later.

Focus, girl, you got the damn god of sex under you, work him!

Her teeth grazed over his hip bone and then her tongue traced down. He jerked when she got close to his cock but she didn't go there, instead heading lower. She remembered how he went off like a rocket in her throat when she tugged on his scrotum that first time. The tip of her tongue traced down one side, up the seam in the middle, back down, and then up and over the other side, completing the 'w' shape. Daryl was trembling beneath her. She popped her head up, there was something he didn't do the first time.

"Daryl, baby...watch me..." He nodded his head, but took several long seconds to push up on his elbows. When he opened his eyes were dilated so widely the blue almost seemed black, the lids drooping. But then she dipped her head again, mouth working his balls and his eyes widened, a deep "uhnh" leaving his throat. She took first one then the other in her mouth, shifting them with her tongue gently before releasing them with a soft pop, then working the whole sac with the flat of her tongue. She kept eye contact the whole time, watching his breathing deepen and hitch depending on her actions.

"Fuckin hell, yer so beautiful..." he breathed.

Amber moved up a little then, hovering over the tip of his cock. Daryl's broad hand slid into her hair again, right over her scalp. She licked her lips and then slid her tongue all the way around his head. His cock jerked under her and she grinned, he was practically begging her with his eyes. Finally, she lowered her mouth over him, slow as she could while keeping eye contact. His brow furrowed in pleasure, and she had to put a hand on his hip to remind him not to buck into her mouth. Slowly, she took as much as she could, then wrapping her fist around the rest. Regrettably, she wasn't able to take all of him yet, but maybe with practice... damn, he tasted like salt and man. She felt pressure on her scalp and grinned around him. He was remembering what she had taught him last time. She came up on him, making sure to flatten her tongue against him and hollow her cheeks. He hissed and pushed her back down as soon as she came up all the way. Her hand around the base worked in rhythm with her lips and the other moved from his hips to stroke his balls. She wanted to save her last trick till the end.

She moaned around him and his hips came up off the blanket for a second at the vibration.

"Ya like doin that, don't ya, dirty girl?" he murmured, running his fingers through her hair, lifting it so he could see the work her mouth was doing. "Love watchin yer pretty mouth wrapped around m'dick."

Amber moaned again, wet flooding the crotch of her panties. When he talked dirty it did things, wonderful things to her body, that were only amplified by the chemicals now in her bloodstream. His hand sped her up and his legs tightened up, she knew he was getting close. Daryl had lost the ability to form complete sentences, alternating between curses and her name. The moment his balls tightened she slid her thumb down to the spot just below them and pushed up firmly. His body exploded, hips and lower back shooting up off the blanket as his hand pushed her head down.

"God DAMN mother FUCK!"

She gagged a little when he pushed her down, his head slamming into the back of her throat but she held it back, wanting to go all the way through it with him. He was there in her mouth, hot and salty as his hips bucked up and his hand pulled at her hair. To be the one responsible for making him lose control like this gave Amber a sense of sexual power she had been lacking.

Amber kept him in her mouth, hand cupping his sac until he began to soften and he collapsed down on the dock. Looking up at him, she smirked and made sure he saw her swallow. His eyes widened.

"You dirty little bitch." Daryl said, voice full of awe, before dropping his head back onto the wood with a thunk.

Amber snickered and reached for the moonshine, the only drink they had out here. She took a tentative drink and was able to swallow it easier this time. Then she crawled over to Daryl's side. He wiggled two fingers, motioning for the drink. He lifted his head just long enough to take a long drink and then fell back, pulling Amber into his chest with a sigh and a shaky arm.

"I think ya broke me." he said, breathlessly.

"I doubt that." Amber murmured into his chest, his heart pounding below her ear.

"Fuckin' serious, can't feel my nuts."

She giggled. "You were feeling them just fine a minute ago."

"Damn straight I was. Gimme a minute, and we'll go again."

Amber pushed up on his chest to look at him. "I thought you were broken."

He grinned up at her, eyes bloodshot. "Ain't never gonna be so broke I can't fuck m'girl."

They both got tickled then, laughing at nothing and everything. They ended up laying on their sides facing one another, so close that their legs were tangled up. Daryl unsnapped and unzipped her shorts, pushing at the waistband until she slipped them off and returned to him. They just lay and kissed for a long time, Daryl's hands ghosting over her body, making her skin sing under him. His lips and tongue traced over her jaw, moving down her neck and collar bone.

"Damn, ya taste s'good." His words vibrated against her skin right before his teeth nipped her. She made an "oh" and he did it again, a little harder before making his way back up to her mouth. He tasted like weed and moonshine, like danger incarnate even though she was safer with him than anywhere else. Daryl touched his forehead to hers while they caught their breath, one hand twisting a strand of her hair while the other stroked her alabaster jaw with the backs of his knuckles.

"I love ya." he said with no warning, eyes watching for her reaction. The phrase seemed so strange coming out of his mouth.

"I love you, Desperado." Amber whispered back, stroking his chest.

"Ya gonna remember I said it? Tomorrow, when I cain't say it sober?"

She nodded, she would remember until she died. He let out a loud sigh.

"Ain't never had nobody that gave a shit, till you. Ya still scare me sometimes."

She smirked. "Sometimes?"

"Yeah. Gettin' better." He pulled her deeper against him, her face pressed against his shoulder. She automatically touched her lips to him and the muscle rolled under them. "Ain't gonna let nobody hurt ya."

She didn't respond, couldn't. Even with some of the best marijuana in the south coursing through her veins, she knew he was making a promise that might be out of his control. His hands trailed down over her back, seating her soft body firmly against his hard one. It was like he believed if he could just keep her close enough, everything would be fine.

Daryl rolled them, her onto her back, him supported on his elbows. Amber sighed his name, feeling his member coming back alive, throbbing against her hip.

"Hush. Not yet, we got all night." he soothed, ducking his head to capture her nipple between his lips. He suckled and then moved his tongue over it, slow and firm, noting how her body matched the rhythm with her hips. He moved to the other side, repeating the action until the very end when he scraped with his top teeth over it just before letting go.

"Please, Daryl..."

"I know, sweet girl. I'm gonna take care a ya, cain't go without tastin ya..." His mouth moved over her stomach, kissing gently in a circle around her navel before heading lower. He trailed the tip of his tongue over the smooth shaved skin, growling, then dipped into her. Amber brought her knees up and Daryl slid them onto his shoulders without any communication, this was a practiced dance, each already knowing what the other needed.

"So wet..." he muttered appreciatively before lapping at her and groaning. "So fuckin good..." His tongue rounded her clit one glorious time before going lower and entering her. She tilted her hips and thrust unconsciously and he chuckled against her while pinning her down with a strong hand on her hips. He thrust his tongue into her one more time before heading up, returning to circle her clit again. He waited until she was begging before pulling the hood back with a thumb and wavering his tongue directly on the swollen nub. She came hard, screaming his name over the silent pond.

Only when she weakly pushed his head away did he pull away, wiping his mouth and scruff with the back of a hand. He brought himself up on his knees between her legs moved to wrap her legs around his waist. Amber shook her head, pulling her ankles over his shoulders.

"Daryl, need...hard...deep..."

He ran his hands up her legs from her ass to her calves before dropping a kiss on her slim ankle.

"Don't wanna hurt ya, sweet girl..."

"Won't...I promise..."

He nodded, grabbing her ass to align himself. Amber whimpered when she felt his head nudge her entrance.

"Need all of it...don't hold back, baby..."

He didn't hold back, a second later he was in her balls deep, both of them crying out. Then he leaned over her, ending up with his hands supporting himself on either side of her while her knees were pressed almost to her chest. Forget him hitting her cervix, Amber could almost swear he was hitting her throat. After a few tense seconds he asked through clenched teeth. "Ya okay?"

Amber nodded, it was the best she could do. If he didn't start moving soon she was going to lose her mind.

"Ain't gonna last long like this."

"Just fuck me, baby."

She didn't have to tell him twice, it was as if he was a man possessed. The only sounds besides the crickets were the wet sounds of their bodies colliding and his grunts as he drove into her with all he had. The only place on him she could get her hands were his thighs and she raked her nails down them, urging him on. There was pain but it was the good kind, that told her he was taking her, taking what was his. And bigger than that pain, magnified by it, was the pleasure. Every time he thrust she would let out an "ah", each one gradually higher pitched as the deep pressure in her lower belly expanded until it took her over. She could only dig her nails into his legs and throw her head back as she gasped beneath him.

Daryl tried to make it all the way through her orgasm but it was a lost cause. He was so damn deep this time and she was so tight when she came that he went with her, spilling into her as she convulsed around him. His straining hips ground into hers as he shuddered above her. As soon as they were finished he rolled off of her, catching her behind the knees with an arm to let her legs down slowly.

They lay on the dock in the quiet for a few minutes, catching their breathe as sweat dried in the cool night air. Then Daryl rolled on his side to move his hand over her hips before laying it on her lower belly.

"Ya hurtin'?"

Amber let out an exasperated sigh. "No, Daryl, I'm not hurting. Now relax, okay?"

"I was hittin ya hard."

"Yes, which I asked for and it was wonderful and I came hard."

He smirked. "Wonderful huh?"

At least he was easily distracted when he was high. Amber answered, "Yep, wonderful, fantastic, delicious, and delightful." She paused for a moment to wonder at her own literary wit, maybe she was a bit higher herself than she cared to admit. Plus, that position should have hurt a lot more than it did which she also contributed to the bud.

"Hey, Desperado, let me ask you something."

"Hmmmmmm?" came the reply from her chest, he was laying half over her now, hand tracing designs over her body.

"How old were you when you got your cherry popped?"

He snorted. "Guys don't got cherries."

"You know what I mean."

"You tell me first."

Amber shook her head. "Nope. I asked you."

"Ain't telling ya unless ya tell me how old and who. That's final."

"Fine then. Fifteen and Maggie's older brother Sean." Now he would think she was a total slut.

"How was it?"

"Painful."

He nodded against her but didn't say anything.

"Uh, your turn. Let me guess, fifteen?"

He shook his head.

"Fourteen?"

"Nope."

"Daryl, honey, I know you're a redneck, but I'm a little afraid to go any lower."

He chuckled. "Ya sound like your Maw when ya call me that."

"What? That's weird considering we just fucked." they both laughed that time until she realized he was distracting her now.

"Okay, give it up. How old and who."

He mumbled something against her breast.

"Huh?"

Daryl propped his chin on her chest to look up at her, ears burning as he blushed. "Twenty-five, a'ight? With some whore Merle brought home for m'birthday."

A grin spread over her face. "That is so sweet. Well, the age part, not the whore. How was it?"

"Fast. Always that way till you."

Amber nodded sagely, brushing the hair out of his eyes. He looked so young when he blushed, like he was the younger one not her. Considering the topic of their conversation, he really was in some ways. They talked over the next hour, Amber taking advantage of how chatty he was when high. She might not get a chance like that again. He told her about when he quit school when he was sixteen to go to work as a construction laborer. She talked about when she gave up a full scholarship to UGA to stay home and go to the local community college. Daryl let it slip that he liked to read, mostly old murder mysteries, when Merle wasn't around to rag him about it. Amber tried to imagine him propped up on the couch, relaxing with a book in one hand and a beer in the other. It was almost comical, the thought of it, that she made a mental note to pick him up some books when all the problems with Le Mechant were over. He also shared that he had been arrested after he and Merle were in a bar fight, at the age of twenty two. That was an image that wasn't so hard to create. Then her mood slowly turned serious and Daryl picked up on it. He asked if she was around when Martinez took Kaye before.

"Yeah, I was seventeen. Was on the porch, I really don't remember anything. They must have hit me in the back of the head. I woke up to Mama crouched over me crying and Norm screaming his head off while he loaded his guns onto his bike. Then he and Daddy and a couple others were gone for a week."

She purposely left out the part that she had been covered with her mom's coat when she woke up because her shirt and bra had been cut open. Thankfully, whoever done it must have run out of time because her jeans were undisturbed.

"Yer daddy said as soon as he gets a tip where they're at, we're goin' after'em."

"You don't have to be one of the ones to go."

"Yeah I do. Gonna protect what's mine. Besides, he said the bow will let us get in quieter, surprise'em."

She stopped talking then, unwilling to ruin the night. Daryl was quiet for a while and she thought he had fallen asleep as she ran her fingers through his hair, until he kissed the soft skin of her stomach and murmured against it.

"'night. Love ya."

"Love you too."

Amber looked down at him as he lay over her, naked in the moonlight, vulnerable and strong at the same time. Her body felt like it was floating away and she let it, her last thoughts the hope that her grandmother's blessing wasn't a coincidence. That Daryl Joseph Dixon's bow would be strong, as would his arms. That his enemies, though they hate him, would fail and he would be as a strong branch over a wall.

**The position they used is called deep missionary and it happens to be a fave of mine right now, so I thought I would use it here. You know what to do, review me baby!**


	31. Chapter 31

**Wow, chapter full of feels here before the action starts. I've got a feeling this is about to start updating quickly again so hold on! Also, a lite wink and a nudge to another well known Reedus character in this chapter.**

**Reviews are super appreciated as always!**

"Get up, ya damn bunch a stoners!"

Amber felt Daryl move reflexively to cover her body as soon as he heard Merle.

"Dammit, ya pervert! Turn your ass around!"

"Ain't seen nothin'. She's got the fun parts covered by that blanket. Just your white ass blindin' the whole yard."

Amber felt Daryl jerk a corner of the blanket over his own 'fun parts' and laughed before she opened her eyes. Welcome back to the real world.

"Mornin' Merle."

"Mornin, sugar."

Daryl jerked his on boxers on. "Merle, I'm fuckin serious! Get back up the house so she can get dressed!"

Merle huffed and turned his back to the two on the dock but not before noticing the scratch marks extending from his brothers hips to his knees.

"Shit, sugar. Ya abused lil' Darylena last night, didn'ya?"

"Sure did, and he enjoyed every second."

Amber pulled on her own clothes while Daryl gave her a dirty look. "Done told ya, don't encourage'im!"

"Relax, Daryl, ain't like he doesn't know what we were doing." She addressed the brother with his back to her. "Merle, you can turn around now. I'm dressed."

"Yeah, bro, like the lady says, RELAX! It was you that was wakin' the neighbors up last night, not her. Sure wish I knew what it was she was doin' ta make ya yell like that!"

Daryl burned deep red, creeping up from his chest to the tips of his ears. "Wasn't fuckin yellin." he muttered, walking past them to the house. Merle turned to Amber behind his back and whispered loudly, "Ya gonna tell me, sugar?"

Amber whispered back loud enough for Daryl to hear. "Nope. A lady doesn't kiss and tell." She jogged up a couple of steps to catch up with Daryl as they walked up the hill to the trailer. She slid her hand in his back pocket and grinned when he jumped. He could fuck her stupid in private and got embarrassed when she grabbed his ass in front of his brother.

When they got in Amber got some fresh clothes and jumped into the shower, by herself much to Daryl's disappointment. She quickly reminded him that all that smooth skin he liked took work, which she preferred to do in private. That didn't prevent him from being propped on the counter when she stepped out of the shower, with smug smirk on his face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, wrapping a towel around her and tucking a corner in to secure it.

Daryl shrugged before crouching down at her feet. "Figured I'd check and make sure ya didn't miss a spot."

"Oh, just helping out then?"

"Yup."

She felt a rough hand encircle each of her ankles before gliding up her legs to rest on her thighs just below where the towel ended. She looked down as he looked up as if in in deep thought.

"How'd I do, Mr. Inspector?"

"So far, s'good."

He stood, so close he was almost touching her and then tugged at the corner of the towel where it was tucked in above her left breast. It fell away to the floor and she put her hands on his shoulders. Daryl bent over, his lips gliding over her still damp collarbone as his hands started back where he left off on her hips. But suddenly they went from dancing over her skin to gripping and Amber didn't even startle when she was lifted onto the counter.

"Daryl, it won't kill you to bend over. Sorry I'm so short."

"Hush. Didn't say I didn't like ya s'little." He returned to his 'inspection' while his tongue slowly lapped at the beads of water where her neck met her shoulder.

"Short and little are two different things, babe, just ask my fat ass."

His head came up suddenly as he narrowed his eyes at her. It looked like she may be in trouble.

"The fuck did you just say?" he asked slowly, halfway between disbelief and pissed.

"Um, just made a joke about my fat ass? I've ate like a pig over the last year, I know you've noticed how tight my jeans are and how I'm spilling out of my bras. Truthfully, it would do me some good to skip a few meals."

Daryl leaned over until they were nose to nose, his hands now on the counter on either side of her hips. "Do NOT start that shit, ya hear me?"

"What?"

"That fat talk. Ya think I don't like yore ass? Or yore titties? Fuckin hell girl, I ain't never been into that bony bitch shit, a'ight?"

Amber smirked, he could be so sweet while profane at the same time. "Yes sir."

"Damn straight, 'yes sir'. Ya don't weigh nothin now, I can pick ya up just like that. And ya better eat everythin on your plate for breakfast."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Will you spank me if I don't?"

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Hell naw, ya'd just get off on it. Now shut up, I ain't done with ya." He went back to work, fingertips moving down between her legs. He groaned when they traced over the freshly shaved skin and then dipped one middle finger in. Amber leaned back against the mirror and shifted her legs a little farther apart.

The man was just about as good with his fingers as he was with his mouth. And by good, she meant fan-fuckin-tastic, off the charts and mind blowing. He was ghosting over her folds, the other hand sliding gently over her lower belly.

"How ya doin, ya know..."

"I'm fine, Daryl." she answered, eyes still closed (when exactly did she close them?) "You still freaking out over last night?"

"Don't remember a whole lot, just that it was s'deep and tight it felt like I was splittin ya in two."

"Well, everything is right where it's supposed to be, why don't you check and...oh...OH..." He was making sure everything was okay, alright. He slipped his fingers over her clit and Amber jerked, a whine coming from her throat. She felt his heat over her body as he leaned over her, capturing her lips, his tongue diving into her mouth without hesitation. He had just pulled her to the edge of the counter with one hand and was about to kneel when the door rattled on it's hinges, the three bangs loud in the small bathroom.

"Hurry the hell up! I'm ready ta eat!" Merle yelled impatiently.

"Yeah, well, me too!" Daryl yelled back without thinking, "So you can wait a damn minute!"

Amber clapped a hand over her mouth and Daryl stood gaping in shock and embarrassment. Merle snorted on the other side of the door.

"Get your head out from between'er legs, boy! She cain't cook like that!" Then his heavy footsteps left the door, headed to the living room as he muttered about needing to find him a woman.

Daryl turned to Amber as she convulsed with laughter on the counter. "Ain't funny." he grumbled before sliding her off the counter and handing her the towel. She tried to compose herself and finished drying off before slipping on her clean underwear and bra and then jeans and a black tank top.

"I don't feel like cooking, let's go out." Amber said as Daryl stripped off his shirt for his own shower. It was hard to keep her concentration after that. Poor Merle may starve to death before they got out of there. She decided to work on her hair at the mirror to occupy her eyes. Then his jeans and boxers hit the floor and she jammed the comb she was using to detangle into her scalp. Great. At least once he turned on the water and got behind the shower curtain she could get ready without injuring yourself.

"I said I want to go out for breakfast!" she yelled over the water.

"Nope. Yer daddy said he wants ya ta stay on the farm."

"I'm a grown woman, Daryl! And I don't want to cook right now!"

"Fine, I'll cook."

"I don't want bacon and eggs! Come on, please? I'll be with you and Merle, it's broad daylight!"

"Quit whinin."

"I ain't whining. Please?"

She heard a growl and knew he was rolling his eyes. "Just to IHOP and then straight home, I promise. We can take the bikes, it's a perfect day to ride." She wasn't above using his love of the new bike to her advantage. Her hair was up now in her usual tousled bun on top of her head. If he relented, she was going to have to put on her helmet anyway.

"Hey, hand me a towel." Daryl stepped out and dried off, Amber ogling him openly. Damn Merle and his appetite, things had just started getting good. He pulled on the new black tee (one of the ones he had gotten on his little shopping trip with Barry) and a pair of faded ripped jeans that were her favorites. The worst part was watching him thread his wide black leather belt through the loops and fasten it. Hot damn.

Daryl didn't answer her until he came to her side at the counter, snapping the leather band around his wrist before running his hands through his hair for a second. Daryl Dixon wasn't one to primp and preen, it was one of the many things she loved about him.

"All you need now, Dixon, is a do rag with skulls like daddy."

Daryl snorted, "Ain't wearin no do rag." He ran his hands around her waist from behind and propped his chin on top of her head. Amber ran her hands up to tug at the hair that now almost reached the collar of his shirt in the back.

"You could, you're growing your hair out."

Amber found the thought of Daryl with long hair very...interesting, to say the least.

"IHOP and that's it?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Promise."

"C'mon then, before Merle starts that damn bangin again."

They went to the living room, where Merle sat on the couch.

"Ya get done with 'breakfast'?" he asked Daryl with a grin.

"Fuck off. At least I'm gettin some. We're goin out."

"We as in me?"

"Naw, we gonna let ya starve, dumbass. Yeah you!"

They retrieved their weapons off the counter and Amber couldn't help but shake her head at the absurdity of it. They were headed out for brunch at IHOP loaded for bear. Daryl and Merle shoved their guns in the back of their pants and then Daryl clipped the buck knife in it's sheath onto his belt. She felt both their eyes on her as she slipped her pink switchblade into the side of her boot and placed her Glock in the small of her back after checking the safety.

"Don't dare ask if I know how to use it." she glowered playfully.

Merle just looked at her wide eyed. "Naw, sugar. S'just kinda hot, you totin' a gun."

Daryl popped him on the back of the head. "Watch it, asshole."

His grin gave him away, he actually agreed.

The ride out to town was wonderful. The weather was hot, but the wind in their face took care of that. They both were hotdogging a little, each pulling ahead of the other for a little while. But Daryl's bike easily overtook Merle's, his was built for speed.

The IHOP was crowded, but that was to be expected at almost noon on Sunday. They ended up crammed into a small booth that was really only made for two. Merle sat on one side while she and Daryl were elbow to elbow on the other. She didn't mind, lifting her thigh enough to hook her knee over his under the table and leaning on his shoulder as they waited for their coffee. He tensed for a second before whispering in her ear.

"Ya sure ya wanna do that? Half the town's in here."

She glared up at him. "You know how you felt when I said I was fat?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's how I feel when you act like I should be ashamed of you. I'm proud to be with a man like you. Now hush."

He looked at her for a long moment, his face unreadable and then relaxed against her.

"You 'member what I said last night?" he murmured, almost so low she couldn't hear him as the waitress set down their coffee.

She thought for a minute and then smiled, it was his way of saying it now. "Yes, I love you too." She dropped a kiss on his shoulder. Their little moment was ended by a gagging noise from across the table.

"If ya two lovebirds can quit makin' out, I'd like ta order my food. I'm starvin' here."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

They all three had almost finished their food when the men's phones went off simultaneously. Daryl checked his while Merle struggled,cursing, not used to the device. Amber chuckled and took it from him, pulling up the message. It was a group text sent from her father to the Dixons, and all the ranking members of the Demons. Barry Phillips firmly believed in using technology to the advantage of the club.

Found them. Be clubhouse 6pm. -Barry

The mood suddenly turned grim at the table. Nobody dared say a word with the crowd around them. Before Amber could hand Merle's phone back Daryl's went off again. She read the message over his shoulder.

A, K, and Debbie to stay at clubhouse under guard tonight. -Barry

He flipped the phone around to Merle for a second before putting it into his vest pocket and grabbing the check. Five minutes later they were standing out by the bikes in the oppressive mid summer heat. Amber reached up and plucked Daryl's cigarettes and his lighter out of his pocket and lit one for him. If he ever needed a smoke, it was now. Merle lit up too and they just smoked for a few minutes as Amber stood there with arms crossed until she couldn't stand the quiet.

"You can still back out of this. Just stay back at the clubhouse with me." she said quietly to Daryl.

He shook his head slowly. "I ain't though. We done talked about this."

"And you're okay with killing a man? Men?"

Daryl crushed the butt of his cig under his boot. "When they're trying ta kill you, I'm strangely comfortable with it."

Amber addressed Merle. "What about you? You don't have a stake in this, so why do it?"

Merle motioned toward Daryl. "Ain't lettin my baby bro do this without me watchin his six, sugar. Sides, I got a score ta settle with them fuckers that jumped me at yore place."

There was nothing else she could say to sway them, their minds were made up.

"Fine. Let's go home. You need to rest before you do this. It could take all night and you need to be sharp."

She was crazy for thinking they were going to get any rest. When the three of them got home both men set to checking weapons, setting out ammo, and loading their bikes. Amber and Daryl sat side by side on her bed as he checked the settings on the bow for the third time.

"Ya ain't gonna say nothin?" he finally asked after several minutes of silence.

"What is there to say?" she asked back, drawing her knees up.

He sighed and laid the bow to the side before standing to shut the bedroom door. He toed off his boots and pulled his shirt over his head.

"What's this?" Amber said bitterly as she looked up at him. "The last fuck before you go die for me?"

She was trying to make him mad but it didn't work. Daryl just looked down at her sadly and shook his head.

"Ain't the time for that. Scoot over."

She did, still frowning. Daryl crawled into the bed behind her and pulled at the hem of her tank for a second before she reluctantly let him pull it off before he undid her bra and pulled her down beside him, his chest to her back. She remained tense against him and he hooked his leg over hers and pulled her deeper into his chest, effectively surrounding her. They laid like this for a long time before she began to relax. The heat from his chest radiated into her back, his breathing slowly syncing with hers.

"I'm comin back." he finally murmured into her hair as his fingers traced circles on her stomach.

"I just found you, I can't lose you."

She felt him nod against her head. "Same here. S'why I gotta do it."

"What happens when this is over?"

"Whatta ya mean?"

"If all this goes down like it's supposed to. What then."

"Normal shit, I guess. Work. Might even take m'girl out on Friday nights. Ain't got t'do that yet." He moved her hair to the side with one hand so he could drop a kiss on her neck.

"Where...are you going to live?" she asked hesitantly.

He shrugged, "That's up ta you. This is your place."

"So I have to ask?"

He was pressing his face into her neck now, as if trying to memorize her scent. "Nah, I know. Sides, Merle snores and you don't."

That got a smirk out of her, laughter was out of the question as time ticked down to when they had to leave for the clubhouse.

"Are you going to take the club ink after this is done?" she asked suddenly, wary of his answer.

She felt his breathe hot in her hair as he weighed his response. "Probably. S'like I got a family now, ain't never. Plus, Merle is different, ya know? He ain't touched nothin stronger than that weed last night since he got out. He ain't never been clean this long."

Daryl's answer didn't shock her, she knew what it would be. "And what about me? Do you want me to take your wings?"

"What wings?" He sounded genuinely confused. Had her daddy not covered that part with him on their little excursion Friday?

"You saw mama's ink? The angel wings over her whole back?"

"Yeah."

"Kaye has them, Carol too. If you're a Demon's old lady you take their ink on your back, a pair of angel wings."

Daryl propped himself on one elbow so he could look over her shoulder at her face. "Are you my old lady?"

Amber frowned as she looked up at him. "I don't like the term 'old lady'. I'm your girl, though." Daryl nodded. "It's yore back. So that's up ta you too."

"No, it's not. It's your choice. I can't do it unless you say so."

It was a while before he answered, his voice quiet and still amazingly shy against her neck. "Yeah. If ya want."

She just nodded. Yeah, she wanted. He pulled away a little and she felt his fingertips tracing lightly over her back as he imagined what the wings would look like on her skin. His wings, in permanent ink.

The rest of their too short time was spent just laying together. After a few minutes she turned in his arms and he kissed her slowly, committing her mouth to memory, showing her what he couldn't tell. He had talked with her more than anyone in his whole life and it still never seemed to be enough to make her understand how he felt.

They both jumped when Merle knocked softly on the door, at odds with his banging that morning, his voice quiet.

"Fifteen after five. Time ta go."


	32. Chapter 32

**Time for action. I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance, shit's about to get bad, real bad. For a while. But just hang tight, it's a journey, okay? I know exactly where we're headed.**

They pulled up to the clubhouse at five till six, sliding the two Triumphs next to the line of Harleys next to the front door. Daryl unclipped the bow from the handlebars along with the quiver, being unwilling to leave them outside unattended. He slung them both over one shoulder instead of over his body, knowing he would set them down as soon as thy entered the meeting room. Tyreese met the three of them at the door and ushered them directly through the crowd. Merle's reaction to his first moments in the clubhouse was much different than Daryl's. His shoulders actually squared a bit more and he beamed, practically salivating between the bar and the women around it. Amber had to grab his thick arm and give it a tug to direct his attention back to where it was supposed to be.

As soon as they entered the meeting room Daryl slipped the bow and quiver to the floor just inside the door and looked to Amber to direct them where to sit. The room was about twenty feet square, dominated by the huge rough hewn pine table that sat in the middle, surrounded by matching chairs. Only the one at the head was different, slightly larger and obviously Barry's. The only other person in the room was a huge figure, in a metal folding chair shrouded in shadows in the corner. Daryl recognized him immediately, before he even spoke.

"Well, look, we got our own goddamn Robin Hood now."

Amber hooked her fingers in Daryl's back belt loop a split second before he moved to step forward. She shook her head once and Daryl backed down, only for her. Merle didn't lose his grin, but it changed, going ice cold instantly. Tyreese was the one who spoke up.

"Shut up, Leon, your daddy's done warned you. You cause trouble and you're out."

He leaned forward out of the shadows, the bruises from the previous morning's attack even more spectacular.

"You best kick my dear sister out then. You know the rules, Tyreese, no bitches in the meeting room." He emphasized the word bitches, making clear he wasn't using it as the term of endearment common to bikers.

"Last warning, boy. You know exceptions are made. Amber, Kaye, and your Mama are sitting in on this meeting since it concerns them. So if you are so out for french blood as you say you are, I suggest you stand down."

Leon sat back as Amber led Daryl and Merle to some more chairs in an opposite corner, which happened to be behind and just to the right of Barry's seat. Amber knew this would put them directly behind Norm and Kaye. Daryl sat uncomfortably and started fiddling with his wristband while Merle sprawled as usual. He could sit in the very presence of Satan himself without giving away his nerves.

"Hey, if I go get y'all each a beer, can you keep from killing my brother in the two seconds it'll take me?" Amber whispered.

Daryl started to shake his head but Merle nodded. "One won't slow ya down any, bro. Might help take the edge off. We'll hold it tagether, sugar."

Amber jumped up, walked out the door, and motioned for Carol for two beers and her regular as she made her way across the main room. She had them sitting on the bar when she walked up and Amber made her way back to the meeting room, catching sight of her parents, and Norm and Kaye coming in the front just as she re-entered the meeting room. Everyone was as she left them, except for Tyreese who had taken his seat to the left of Barry as the vice president. She gave Daryl and Merle their beers, taking her chair between them with her Tennessee Honey. She threw back half of it with one swallow, causing Merle to give her an amused look while Daryl just rolled his eyes, taking a long pull of his beer. Amber went ahead and lit him a cigarette, pulling an ashtray from the main table over to the chair on the other side of him. He gave her a grateful look.

The others entered the room, her parents, Norm and Kaye, T-Dogg, and a couple others that Merle hadn't met yet and Daryl had only briefly the Friday before. Her mother and Kaye both gave her a nod as they took places standing behind their husband's seats. Barry and Norm gave both Dixons a nod, despite Norm not having met Merle yet. Apparently he had been made aware of his new prospect status. Honestly, to Amber, Norm looked like he hadn't slept. He looked more haggard than normal, and Kaye had faint dark circles under her eyes. Amber could only imagine how she was doing, having been kidnapped by the same enemy ten years before. Debra probably looked the best of the three women, but Amber knew her mother was an expert at hiding behind a facade of humor and bravado.

Barry called the meeting together quickly, dismissing the usual procedures to get to the matter at hand. A source had come up with the fact that a group of Le Mechant had been hiding out in a warehouse in the industrial park for the last three days. That would put them in town in the time frame of the "warnings" at the farm and the junkyard. Also, not only were their bikes at the warehouse, but a black work van had been spotted. No one had to explain that it would be the vehicle the women would be put in if they were taken.

Barry had gotten hold of blueprints of the warehouse (he wasn't giving out the how of getting them, which was probably the best.) and called Merle and Daryl over to stand beside him as he went over the plan. Leon obviously bristled at this, inviting himself over to the table, getting just close enough without getting near the brothers. He didn't open his mouth until his father actually started going over assignments. Barry, Norm, and the Dixon's would be taking point with a group made of Tyreese, Leon, and two others backing them up. T-Dogg and the remaining two would be staying behind to guard the women.

"Daddy! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!? I've rode with this club for fourteen fucking years, and now I'm some damn back up to these prospects!?"

Merle tensed but now it was Daryl that shook his head. He had seen Barry handle his son before. The club president stood from his chair.

"Daryl carries a silent weapon, not a silenced gun, but a true silent weapon! And Merle is an experienced military sharpshooter! Either as my son or a member of MY goddamn club, you will enter that warehouse where and when I say!"

Leon took a step forward and his father stepped around the table. Norm and Tyreese only leaned forward, knowing the abilities of their superior officer.

"I am your son! And it's my fucking MOTHER they are after and my SISTER!" Daryl rolled his eyes when Leon mentioned Amber, it was a little too late to play the loving sibling card. "And you're letting damn Robin Hood and GI Joe go in with you! How many fucking times have I killed for this club?"

"Too damn many." His father's voice dropped, instantly becoming more menacing. "You are a hot head. And I need someone I can trust to THINK when shit gets tough, not just start spraying bullets. And it may be your mother and sister but it is my WIFE, DAUGHTER, and the wife of a man I consider my BROTHER. So you best sit your ass down before I pull you off the whole damn thing!"

Leon took another step, nearly chest to chest with his father. "It is because of me you made fucking president old man." Every eyebrow around the table shot up at that. Leon was on thin ice, Barry had earned his title the hard way, and the only person who could have claimed part was Norm. Leon went on, "And just because my goddamn whore of a sister..."

The room suddenly exploded behind Barry, the six men in there beside him and Leon barely holding back two enraged Dixons. Barry wasn't concerned with what was behind him though, he was intent on his son. The son might have been bigger, but the father was experienced. Leon's eyes flicked to the scene behind Barry and then the older man pounced. A second later the big asshole was facedown on the floor, his father's boot grinding in his neck.

"I told you, boy." Barry hissed, "The next time you said anything about your sister, it wouldn't be Daryl you had to worry about." He brought his boot down harder on his son's neck, the younger man's face turning purple.

"Barry, NO!" Debra screamed, from where Kaye was blocking her from the scene playing out. Her son was an ass but he was still her son.

Amber turned from where she was pulling on the two men on either side of her, who were trying to jump over the table to have their own go at her wayward sibling.

"DADDY! STOP!"

Her first concern wasn't Leon, but what her father would go through after he realized he had killed his own son. Barry looked up at the both of them and the cold look left his eyes. He reached down and grabbed a handful of Leon's hair before removing his boot and yanking him up. Leon came up on his knees, choking and wheezing.

"You listen to me, you little prick." he ground out through clenched teeth. "You got two choices now. You WILL NOT be going to the warehouse at all. Either you stay here and help guard your so called beloved mother, sister and Kaye, with T-Dogg in charge OR you go out the door, get on that fuckin monstrosity you call a ride and NEVER show your face in MY club again. Now which is it?"

Leon swallowed and had to try twice to get any sound to come out. Both Dixon's had gained a little of their composure once they saw the treatment Leon was getting. Norm stood chest to chest with a seething Daryl, his hands bracing the younger man's shoulders. Amber heard him mutter something to Daryl about "backing down" "lookin at the bigger picture" and "think about what's important" before glancing in her direction She mentally thanked whoever was listening for her 'uncles' hard earned wisdom.

"Stay...Dogg." Leon finally squeaked out. Barry nodded tersely and threw his son toward the door.

"Good. Now go find one of your whores, you're not needed in this meeting anymore."

Leon stood for a second at the door, giving one person a calculating look. Only when Daryl stepped between him and Amber did he turn and leave, slamming the door behind him.

"Dogg," Barry addressed the man who was taking his seat after spending the last five minutes pulling at the bucking bronc that was Merle Dixon. "He steps out of line one time, he says one wayward word to Amber, and you shoot him in the kneecap. It's an order." Dogg nodded firmly. Debra went to open her mouth but Barry silenced her with a finger in her direction.

"No, Debbie. I've had enough of his shit. He is refusing to act like a son, so I can't treat him like I'm his daddy. He is a danger to everyone in this club and our family. And I'm responsible for both." She nodded slowly before looking away.

Everyone slowly took back their places, Barry reviewing the plan. Since Leon was off the second string, they added in Jim from the team that had been staying behind. Barry and Daryl would be in front, with Merle and Norm directly behind. They would try to let Daryl take out as many as he could from a distance before advancing deeper inside the building. That would give Daryl the majority of the kills, so Amber eyed his face warily, looking for signs of apprehension. She found none, which scared her more than if she had. Then he gave her a quick look and she knew what he was doing, reminding himself why he was doing it, and she felt ashamed for being the reason he was becoming a killer.

Tyreese, Jim, and the remainder of the team would give them fifteen minutes to clear as many as they could before coming in through the front. If all went well, Le Mechant would be decimated before they could even draw their guns. Barry reviewed the plans one more time before glancing at his watch. It was eight thirty, he released the men until nine when they would meet out at the bikes ready to go. It was time for them to say goodbye. Merle gave Amber a nod and jerked his head at Daryl before mumbling something about heading to the bar. Amber found her Demon looking over the plans with her father and Norm again, while chewing on his thumbnail. Her father looked up at her and clapped him on the shoulder. Amber felt a swell of pride when she saw no flinch.

"Go on, son. You had it down pat the first time I laid it out."

Daryl nodded and Amber grabbed his hand, quickly pulling him out of the room. She drug him through the main room, it's lack of privacy and loudness the last thing she wanted right now. They ended up out back in the empty outdoor target range, cicadas singing in the night air as the bass boomed from inside the club. She led him, still hand in hand to the farthest target line.

"Ya think I need some target practice?" Daryl asked drily.

Amber glared at him, did he really think this was a time to joke? She gently pushed him up against the concrete wall to their right, her hands gliding around his waist as his wound around her shoulders. She went to speak but he cut in first.

"Ya best not be about ta start some goodbye shit. I done said I'm comin back." Amber shut her mouth and Daryl moved his hands to her hair, taking the pins and bands out gently to let it fall over her shoulders and back as he ran his fingers through it.

"And you quit acting like this is the last time your going to see me." she said with a wavering voice. He nodded before bending to kiss her, the most gentle and sweet he had ever been. Then she lay her head on his chest, failing to hide her wet cheeks.

"Hey...don't...please, sweet girl..." he pleaded quietly, rubbing at her tears with his thumbs. He cradled her face and sighed.

"I'm gonna be back way before mornin, and I'll even let ya cook me somethin ta eat before I fuck ya brains out."

Amber snorted and shook her head. "You better. Or I'll kick your ass myself."

He nodded. "I believe that. Your a bad bitch when ya want ta be."

Daryl slid down the wall to sit on the grass with her in his lap. He held her face in his hands, kissing her deeply for a long time before pulling back a little, still so close that his breath was hot on her lips. "I promise, I'm comin back. And then it'll be over. Just work and normal boring shit. We'll go ta Jake's and eat barbeque and I'll watch ya dance."

Amber nodded, that sounded so good. "Promise?"

"I swear."

They were quiet the rest of the short minutes they had left, Daryl alternating between kissing her and burying his head in her shoulder while she ran her fingers slowly through his hair. Then the back door of the club opened and Merle's head poked out.

"Time."

"Comin'" Daryl answered.

They scrambled up off the ground and Daryl pulled her into his chest again. "Stay away from your brother, a'ight?"

"No problem."

Now it was Daryl leading her by the hand, back into the club. The men headed to the warehouse were at the front door. Amber stopped in front of Merle, letting go of Daryl's hand to crook a finger at his brother. Merle sighed and rolled his eyes, but still bent down to Amber's level. She leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"You stay safe, you hear me?"

"Yeah, sugar." he answered, voice oddly husky right before he swallowed hard.

"And you bring him back to me." She then kissed him on the cheek, and he stood up quickly, eyes darting away. For once in his life, Merle Dixon was speechless.

Daryl returned to her side, shouldering the bow and quiver. She turned to him, just hugging him quickly before going to give him a peck on the lips, knowing he wasn't one for public affection. Before she could pull away his hand came up to the back of her neck, crushing her lips to his in the crowded room. He only pulled away when he heard her father clear his throat.

"Come on, son. Plenty of time for that when we get back in a little bit."

"Yes sir." he answered, face burning furiously as he smirked down at Amber. She reached out a hand to her father who pulled her into a bear hug.

"I love you, Pooshie."

"I love you too daddy. Bring them all back."

"We're gonna go kick some ass."

Daryl stopped by her one last time on his way out the door. He bent down so his lips were next to her ear. "'Member what I said last night."

"Yeah. I love you too." her voice broke on the word love and he pecked her cheek before walking out the door. And just minutes later they were taillights heading down the club drive way, Daryl close to the front, behind her daddy and Norm.

The club cleared quickly after the men left, most everyone graciously realizing the targeted women wanted some quiet and space. Amber took a spot on one of the couches arranged against one wall. She picked up an old habit as she sat, internet shopping on her phone, it was more fun now that she had another person to buy for. It was hard to concentrate, but she forced herself to look for things for Daryl, for things he would need for normal life, after this was done and he was safe. An hour had passed when she finally looked up and realized they were down to herself, her mother, Kaye, Dogg, Leon, and the remaining Demon Gary. Debra and Kaye were both absorbed in their own thoughts, sitting silently on opposite sides of the another couch. Amber wanted to break the silence, but it would be useless, until the men returned. Leon sat at the bar alternating typing busily on his own phone and drinking. Her daddy would have another fit if he knew he was getting drunk while 'on the clock' but she didn't say anything. No point in starting an argument. Dogg and Gary had went outside to do a perimeter check a little while ago.

Leon eyed her for a moment before walking over and sitting next to her. She sighed.

"Don't start. I don't want to fight."

He shook his head. "Me neither."

Amber looked up at him, what was this about? "Huh?"

"I'm trying to say I'm sorry. I'm an asshole."

Amber snorted. "I agree. What do you want?"

"Not a thing. I've been awful ever since you came home. I may not like you, but I don't want you dead."

Amber narrowed her eyes at him, he seemed sincere but a feeling in her stomach told her otherwise.

"You still carry that Glock?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Thought I'd clean it for you while we wait. You never did it yourself before. If it's not been cleaned in years it'll end up jamming on you."

Amber chuckled. "Yeah, you're right." Amber's loathing of gun maintenance was a family joke. She pulled it out of her waist and looked it over, it did need it. "You sure?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah. Figured showing I was trying to keep you safe would be the only way to get back on your old man's good side. I can't take another right hook right now."

She grinned. He was acting the way he used to when they were kids, like himself. She handed the gun over and he raised an eyebrow at her after taking a look at it himself.

"Yeah brother, I know."

"You still carry that ugly ass pink switchblade?"

"No, I lost it." The lie tumbled out of her mouth before she could think.

He went back over to the bar, taking apart her gun after working on his phone for a second. Amber shook her head, her brother was always after a piece of ass. She was starting to get a little worried about Dogg and Gary until she heard the back door close and footsteps coming up the hall.

Amber didn't even look up from her phone until she heard the voice ring out.

"Did you miss me, mi preciosa?" Martinez asked Kaye loudly from his spot at the bar, gun pressed to Leon's forehead as four Le Mechant filed into the room, their own weapons drawn and pointed at the women.


	33. Chapter 33

**Wow, guys! It's official, this story is now writing itself, I'm just along for the ride! Thank you for all the reviews! My husband is neglected, my house is a mess BUT this story rocks on!**

They parked the bikes about a quarter mile from the warehouse in a parking garage outside an office building. Barry checked in for a second with Tyreese's group while Daryl unclipped the bow and quiver from his handlebars. Then the president came striding back to the point group.

"Y'all remember, we recover every arrow the boy lets fly. Nothing left there to tie back to him."

Merle and Norm nodded while Daryl slipped the bow onto his back. His primary weapon was the only one that couldn't be hidden so they would have to keep him to the shadows on the way there and back.

The walk to the warehouse seemed to last forever even though it really only took minutes. Daryl forced himself to keep his mind on her the whole way, how she smelled like rain and how her hair felt in his hands. Then he forced the image of a strangers hands on her to the forefront, doing to her what they had told him Martinez did to Kaye ten years before. It made him cold, a wave of ice in his veins as his trigger finger twitched. He felt the way Merle looked as he stalked behind him.

The warehouse loomed in front of them. They were going in the back, a service entrance that had been marked on the blue print. They had expected it to be heavily guarded but there was only one man propped up in the shadows of deep brick entryway. Daryl and Barry were crouched in the shadows of a retaining wall sixty feet from the back door. Merle and Norm were a few feet to their right, guns drawn and ready to give the archer cover if he needed it when he popped up over the wall to take his shot.

"You good?" Barry mouthed.

Daryl nodded once and held up his index finger for a moment.

_Give me a second._

Daryl closed his eyes, visualizing what he had seen before they had taken cover behind the half wall. He zeroed in on his target, just like when he hunted. He couldn't just see this, he had to do one better, had to feel it. There was no wind to account to for, buildings all around them to block it. He mentally adjusted his aim, imagined popping over the wall to take the shot, releasing the instant death from his bow.

He opened his eyes, he had it, just as sure as if this was a turkey hunt on a crisp winter morning instead of a massacre in the middle of summer. He gave Barry a nod, who then signaled to the two men to their right. It was on Daryl's motion now.

He didn't wait any longer, knowing the longer he hesitated the more he would lose his visual of the shot. He stood quickly and swiveled, arms locking into the familiar position as he shouldered the bow. He locked in on his target, then the target inside the target.

Left eye...

He released the arrow and the man's head rocked back violently in the same second, right before crumpling to the ground. Then they were all four scrambling over the wall, Daryl reloading the bow as soon as his boots hit the asphalt of the warehouse's back parking lot. They slipped through the shadow's to the service entrance. He felt Barry grab his shoulder.

"Damn good shot, son." he whispered.

Merle and Norm both nodded in agreement, then his brother gave him a look when the other men turned away, silently asking.

_You okay?_

Daryl just leaned down, bracing his boot against the dead man's forehead to jerk the bolt from his brain. He then wiped it on his jeans before throwing it into the quiver and raising the bow back to his shoulder to follow Barry into the warehouse. The second he had let that arrow fly, his mindset had changed.

This wasn't nothin but a fuckin hunt...and he intended to fill his tags.

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Roxie Dover sat straight up in her bed, her breath ripping from her throat in a half scream half wheeze. Her dream, nightmare whatever it was still hadn't totally left her. Amber's screams, Daryl's arm straining as their finger's slipped apart, like Roxie herself was a silent observer to their last moments. And then the dry buzz of a rattlesnake just before she felt someone kiss her cheek, their breath like death itself.

She fumbled on the light beside her and Silas's bed as he gently snored next to her. Her Bible was on her night stand as always and she pulled it down with her as she slid to the floor at the side of the bed. Her wrinkled fingers trembled as she flipped through the worn pages. As far as she could remember, there was only one incident of a meaningful kiss on the cheek in the Bible. This wasn't the first time God had spoken to her in a dream and she was used to imagery being symbols for other things. This wasn't about a kiss.

This was about betrayal.

_I Chronicles 12:17_

_And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, "If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be reunited with you; but if you betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgement."_

"If you betray me to my enemies...may God look and bring judgement." she muttered the words over and over, closing her eyes, seeking the heart of the Creator Himself. Tears spilled down her cheeks to dampen the front of her worn cotton nightgown as she prayed the most effective way she knew how, with God's words instead of her own.

Roxie wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night, she battled in the spiritual realm even as others battled the enemy in the natural world.

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Amber froze, shock taking her body. Her phone was knocked from her hands by the man in front of her before he crushed it under his heel.

"No letting votre père know, mon cher." He raised his arm to back hand her and Amber steeled herself for the impact.

"Allen!" Martinez barked and the hit didn't come. "Philip said not to mark her before he got her!"

Allen's arm fell back to his side and he raised his gun back to point at her head with a grin. "No move, mon cher, or I kill you."

Amber's eyes flicked over to her mother and Kaye.

Debra's eyes were fixed on Martinez, he was the one running the show. Kaye was looking at him too, but not with the same cool indifference her best friend was using. She had paled to a deathly white, and Amber could see her body shake for a second. But then her shoulders squared and her head lifted as she looked over at Amber. She silently mouthed four words at her.

"It's okay. They're coming."

"Ah, no, mi preciosa, they're not." Martinez butted in.

"Martinez, let them go, it's me you were sent for." Debra said, voice cool and measured.

Martinez looked like he wanted to laugh, and glanced over at Leon who was still looking down the barrel of his gun. "Sorry, bitch. It's a package deal this time. No loose ends and all that."

He nodded at the man who had his gun to Debra's temple. "Time to split'em up. Like we planned, go."

Amber's mother was jerked to her feet and drug to the door. She jerked her arm away from the man and he slapped her. Amber cried out and tried to stand only to be shoved back down by Allen. Her mother gave her a last sorrowful look as she was jerked up and then she was gone. None of the men moved until the sound of a vehicle being cranked and making it's way down the driveway was heard.

"Enough pretend play." Martinez growled, uncocking his gun and lowering it from Leon's face. Amber's brother stood from the bar stool as he cracked his neck, an evil grin spreading across his face. She wasn't shocked, just disappointed.

"Leon, no..." Kaye whispered.

"Shut up, bitch." Leon growled, his eyes not leaving his sister. Amber could feel hate, as heavy and real as the couch she sat on envelope her as she returned his stare. He walked slowly up to her and she stood. Allen went to shove her back down but he waved him off.

"Daryl's going to kill you. And if he doesn't, Norm will." Amber stated matter of factly.

Leon shook his head. "Sorry, whore. They'll never know. It's your fucking fault mama got involved."

"Still blaming everyone for your mistakes, I see." Amber spat back.

"Nope, just you fucking everything up as usual. You should have stayed away with your fag husband. It was just supposed to be Kaye, but then you came home so Philip decided he wanted you as leverage against Daddy." Leon lit a cigarette before continuing on. "But you decided you wanted to fuck the hired help. So the other night when I painted that little bit on your trailer, his damn brother stuck his nose in it and jumped me. WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?! I had to tell Daddy I got jumped out at his and mama's place, that they were after her too, or it would look too suspicious, me being bruised up."

Amber slowly shook her head. "Why?" she asked quietly, not quite sure she wanted to know, it didn't matter. She just needed him to keep talking, to keep walking toward her.

"Because I'm tired of being a goddamn lap dog, just stupid muscle. Daddy was sergeant at arms by my age."

"Daddy had made a lot more sacrifices than you."

"Sacrifices MY ASS!" Leon roared, now just out of arms reach. Amber could feel Allen at her elbow, but he looked slow, lazy, she was pretty sure she could be faster than him. She chanced a quick look at Kaye. The older woman shook her head a tiny bit, the motion only meant for Amber.

"This is almost OVER!" her brother stated. "With you dead, Daddy'll step down. We won't even have to kill Norm. When he finds Kaye's body, he'll put a bullet in his own head."

"The fuck he will!" Kaye screamed. Martinez now stood just at her side and pushed her back on the couch. Amber saw her body stiffen as the man ran his hands up her legs.

"Daryl will KILL you!" Amber repeated.

"Nope. I am going to be a hero, little sister. I'm going to be the only one left after you guys are taken and I'll know where they took you. And I'll lead them right into hell. If I'm lucky, I'll get to see that rednecks face while he watches you die."

The smug bastard was close enough now. Amber did just like her Daddy taught her years before, she brought her boot up instead of crouching down so she could stay upright to her target. Her fingers found the handle of the switch blade and had the blade extended as soon as it cleared her ankle.

Allen's fingers tightened on her elbow and Amber spun around, the blade sliding into his stomach. She lifted up with all her strength and the knife unzipped his stomach and shirt like knife through butter. He made no sound, just had a surprised face as he fell to the floor. Her scalp exploded in pain as Leon grabbed a hand full of her hair and yanked her back off Allen. Amber brought the knife back up, no hesitation in the fact that she was about to kill her own brother.

But it had been too long, she was out of practice. The knife only sliced across the palm of his free hand before he knocked it away to clatter on the floor. Then she was on the floor, Leon's knee in her back, his immense weight crushing the breath out of her chest.

"You stupid WHORE!" He hissed. "You fuckin CUT ME!"

Amber reached her fingers out to the switchblade where it lay at the foot of the couch.

"ENOUGH!" Martinez yelled from across the room. "Time to finish this up and get out!"

Spots swam in front of Amber's eyes as her lungs screamed for release. Her fingers brushed the pink pearled handle, succeeding only in pushing away. Leon's hand struck out, knocking the blade fully out of her reach and under the couch.

Her last thought before her world went black was that she hoped her brother was too stupid to realize he had just signed his own death warrant.

**The French**

**Votre pere: your father**

**Mon cher: my dear**


	34. Chapter 34

**Wow, it's gettin' tense, ain't it? Honey, we haven't even started yet!**

**WARNING: THIS IS MY ONE AND ONLY BIG WARNING. IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH RAPE TRIGGERS, YOU**

**NEED TO STOP READING THIS STORY. Whether it ends up as implied rape, attempted rape, or explicit rape scene. I'm not giving away which one, or who, just know you have been warned!**

Daryl followed Barry down the dim hall, Norm and then Merle behind his right shoulder. He kept the bow up and loaded, ready. He could see from the looks Barry kept throwing over his shoulder at Norm that something was off.

They rounded the corner, coming up on the stairs that led up to the office. Barry and Daryl led the way up the two flights. They paused outside the heavy wooden door, listening. There was only silence. Finally Barry took a stance outside the door, nodding to Norm and Daryl. They took their places, each on one side behind him. Merle faced back down the stairwell behind them, gun drawn, watching for anyone following them up.

Barry kicked in the the door and Daryl and Norm swung into the room right behind him. He had stopped short only a few feet inside and they had to scramble to avoid stumbling into his back.

The office was empty, stone cold empty, just a few pieces of trash scattered across the floor. Norm ran across the room to the wall of windows that looked down on the warehouse below, scanning it for a second before coming back to Barry, stopping only when his chest almost brushed the other man's. His face was a mask of rage.

"No fuckin body down there but a couple kids, probly prospects. Ya better fuckin tell me we got the wrong goddamn warehouse." he hissed.

The look on Barry's face told him enough, this was the right address. Norm took off down the staircase with wordless scream, Barry right behind him. Daryl stood stock still for a second, all his built up adrenalin suddenly with no where to go, clouding his brain that was sharp as a razor only moments before.

"MOVE DAMMIT!" Merle roared from the doorway, "IT'S A DAMN DOUBLE CROSS!"

And move he did, taking off down the stairs behind his brother. When he got to the landing he vaulted the railing, only momentarily stumbling when he hit the floor below. He scrambled to his feet, running out the back door with the others, past the still warm dead body.

The sprint back to the bikes seemed to takes days instead of minutes. Daryl overtook Barry, the farm work of the last couple weeks having conditioned his body. He and Norm ran into the parking deck, nearly plowing into Tyreese's group who were about to start to the warehouse. Norm yelled a few words to them that Daryl didn't catch and they turned on their heels, toward their own rides. Norm jerked his phone out of his pocket, speed dialing who had to be Kaye as he slung his leg over his bike. Daryl didn't have to ask if she answered, because Norm started murmuring, "No...no...No...NO!" over and over, becoming louder, until Daryl could hear him over the roar of his bike as he pulled out of the parking dead at breakneck speed, not taking the time to pull on a helmet. Daryl did the same, calling Amber, holding the phone between his head and shoulder as he fumbled his keys out of his pocket and into the ignition. He didn't even bother to take the bow off his back. Barry and Merle rounded the door of the deck just as the call went to Amber's voicemail. He almost vomited when he heard her voice on the message, giving Barry a frantic shake of his head.

"GO!" Merle screamed as he mounted his Triumph. "YOU'RE THE FASTEST!"

He didn't need to tell him, Daryl was already leaving the deck, heading to catch up with Norm. The Scrambler did it easily, then overtaking him. Daryl had his own chorus of 'NO' going through his head now. He knew he was panicking, they all were but there was no other emotion available at the moment. He pushed the bike, the speedometer hitting one ten on a strait away. It nearly skidded out on one curve and Daryl fought to keep it upright, one knee only inches from the ground for a millisecond.

Finally, the clubhouse came into view, he roared up the driveway and didn't bother to kick down the stand, laying the bike down in the gravel in his haste to get inside. The front door was standing wide open and his heart fell.

Daryl loaded the bow and brought it up as he blazed through the door, unconcerned for his own safety. He registered the sound of Norm's bike pulling into the lot, but his mind was on scanning the room. It appeared empty until he rounded the couches, nearly stumbling over the body of a stranger. He bent over him for a moment before surmising he was dead, split from waistband to sternum, a large pool of blood only partially congealed around him. Then Daryl checked the meeting room, which was undisturbed.

He was coming out of the meeting room when Norm ran in the front door, his own weapon drawn.

"Ain't in here!" Daryl yelled across the large main room.

"Out back, c'mon!" Norm shouted back and Daryl fell in behind him as they each took a side of the back hall, quickly clearing the side rooms and bathroom. Every empty room made Daryl's stomach crawl farther up his throat. Then they went out the back door to the outdoor firing range, the sound of the remaining bikes drifting over the building as they parked in the front.

Dogg and Gary's bodies were just outside the back door, they had been shot execution style. The other men burst through the back door and Norm launched his self at Barry.

"She's gone! THEY'RE ALL FUCKING GONE!"

He pushed his best friend against the concrete wall, Barry looking stunned as Norm continued his tirade.

"Give me the keys, dammit!" Barry looked confused for a minute until Norm repeated himself "GIVE ME THE KEYS TO THE MOTHER FUCKING GUN CABINET!"

Barry dug in his pocket and handed over his keyring. As Norm ran in, Merle came out, looking for Daryl. Their eyes met and Daryl's ears started ringing, all the panic washing away to be replaced with the feeling that his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He felt the jolt when his knees hit the hard packed dirt and saw Merle running toward him, looking for all the world like he was yelling but Daryl heard nothing over the noise in his own head. His brother skidded to his own knees in front of him. Before he could say anything Daryl shook his head at him weakly.

"She's gone...I promised...I PROMISED her..."

Merle grabbed the front of his vest, hauling Daryl almost nose to nose with him.

"Do not lose your shit, boy! Ya hear me? DO. NOT. LOSE. YOUR. SHIT.! We are gettin' Amber back! We're gettin' em ALL back! Now GET YORE ASS UP NOW!"

He hauled Daryl to his feet and pushed him to the back door of the clubhouse. They were almost there when Tyreese ran out.

"Barry, come quick, we found Leon! He's alive, says he knows where they took them!"

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"C'mon, bitch, wake your ass up!"

Amber was shaken violently and moaned, her eyelids fluttering open. Her head ached, the blood throbbing in her ears. She caught a momentary glimpse of the ceiling of a van before a cloth bag was shoved over her head and she was drug into the night by the handcuffs that bound her hands behind her back. She collapsed on the ground but then a searing pain shot through her shoulders when she was picked up by the cuffs, so she kept her feet under her in a purely self defensive maneuver.

"Kaye?" she whimpered out.

"Here, baby girl." came the quiet answer to her right.

Then there was a thwack of flesh on flesh and she heard Kaye cry out.

"Kaye, baby, I would have thought you learned your lesson last time. Now shut that pretty mouth of yours before I find something to fill it with." Martinez practically cooed from the same direction that Kaye's voice had come from, his voice sickening.

They were half pushed, half dragged into what seemed to be a building and up a flight of stairs. They hesitated for a moment, and Amber got the feeling that Martinez and the other man were communicating. Then they were pushed up another flight of stairs and through a doorway. She heard the door close behind them and then the bag was ripped away from her head. They were in a spacious empty office. The man who had been dragging her was behind her back and Amber felt the cuffs give way on one wrist. She went to stretch her arms but he jerked them in front of her as he stepped around.

"Nope, bitch, just movin around front. Try anything funny and I'll cut your pretty throat."

As he refastened the cuffs in front, Amber surveyed her surroundings. The room was bare except for an old desk against one wall. There was something wrong with the far wall though. About seven feet up an iron circle hung from the wall and then she saw another one hanging at the same height a few feet away. They locked at the bottom with padlocks and had obviously been installed recently, the sheetrock dust from the drilling still on the floor.

Martinez was recuffing Kaye to Amber's right, and the women shared a long look. Kaye's lip was split and bleeding, from the earlier hit outside the van. Amber didn't dare speak, afraid to earn the woman another. Then they were shoved toward the metal rings and Amber had the cold realization what they were for.

Both women were slammed back first into the wall and then their hands were jerked over their heads. The short chains of the cuffs were threaded onto the rings and then they were locked, pinning the women to the wall by their wrists. The height of the rings allowed Kaye to stand flat footed, but Amber was forced to stand on her toes to keep her weight from the cuffs.

Martinez jerked his head at the other man and he exited quickly. Martinez leaned on the wall on his elbow, his body flush against the side of Kaye's. He grinned like an alligator, sniffing her neck before running his tongue up the side of it. She refused to look at him, turning her head away. The hand he wasn't leaning on slipped around her waist and then higher, cupping her breast.

"Mi preciosa, did you miss me? You never answered me before." He asked, voice low.

"Norm's going to kill you this time." she said coldly, ignoring his question.

The hand on her breast tightened cruelly and Kaye whimpered in pain, biting her lip to keep from crying out. He brought his face down to hers, dark features twisting in anger.

"You KNOW BETTER than to mention his name, Kaye. That's what got you in trouble last time." he ground out through clenched teeth.

"I seem to remember nearly biting your dick off being what got me in trouble." she spat back, suddenly defiant.

Martinez smirked, releasing his grip and nodding as if remembering it himself. His instability was evident, a hand coming up to graze her jaw with the backs of his knuckles before grabbing her face, forcing her to look at him.

"Sixteen stitches, you bitch." he hissed. "But still fully fucking functional, trust me. You're gonna be reminded, over and over, soon. I heard you had to get some stitches of your own."

"You nearly broke my damn back, or were you having so much fun you forgot that too?"

He released her face to run a hand through her raven curls. Martinez was enjoying having his personal plaything back in his possession. "Yeah, the back thing. But that's not what I'm talking about and you know it. I heard I tore you up so bad that you had to get fixed. All for the best, that way you and that junkyard dog couldn't have anymore pupp..."

Kaye had had enough, her head snapped back and then forward, her forehead connecting solidly with Martinez's nose, cutting him off and dropping him onto his ass on the floor at her feet. Blood spurted out from between his fingers as he roared. Before he could scramble to his feet the door opened, a dark shape filling the doorway.

"Martinez, get up out of the floor, don't you know you are supposed to stand in the presence of a lady?" the figure asked coolly as he walked in and shut the door behind him. The man was tall and dark haired, wearing the all black that dominated motorcycle clubs. But he didn't seem the club type in an odd way. He was clean shaven with short hair and no visible ink. He would have seemed handsome if you were the type to like classically handsome men, which Amber wasn't. It was what she saw in his eyes that turned her stomach. She had seen a lot of crazy in her twenty seven years, considering the circles her family moved in. But what this guy had going on behind those grey eyes was beyond crazy, it was an evil that made Martinez seem like a choir boy.

He stopped in front of Amber, a hand coming up to trace a cool finger down the side of her cheek. She refused to flinch, Kaye already setting the bar for their behavior.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Philip Blake." he said, sounding weirdly normal in that setting. "And from what I hear, you are quite the feisty little girl. You killed one of my best men."

Amber nodded. "My man's going to kill you, and if he doesn't my daddy will."

A grin spread across Philip's face and he turned to address Kaye. "You've taught her all your secrets, haven't you, mon cher?"

"Fuck you." was her only reply. Martinez was back on his feet now and he back handed Kaye. Her head rocked to the side but when it came up she smirked at the hispanic man and spat blood at his feet. Philip turned his attention back to the smaller woman in front of him.

"Now, little one, let us get back to our conversation. Your 'man' as you so uncouthly put it, and your father are hardly in the position to harm me. From what I hear, this Daryl is an uneducated Robin Hood want-to-be."

The Robin Hood comment brought back her brothers betrayal and her lips pressed into a thin line for a moment.

"He'll skin you alive and enjoy every minute."

"I doubt that, especially since your dear frere is leading them right to us."

"I don't have a brother anymore." she answered truthfully, as far as she was concerned Leon was already dead.

Philip leaned back a little, shaking his head sadly as he frowned. "Sibling rivalry, how sad. And the differences don't end there. Your brother is a gargantuan oaf and you are a tiny thing." he leaned back in, the crazy surging a little in his eyes. "Tell me, are you tiny everywhere?" Her arms being pinned over her head pulled her top up exposing her stomach. He brushed a finger against it, just over her waistband, making his implication clear.

Amber leaned if as if she was about to share a secret. "Actually, Philip, it is tiny..."she smiled sweetly, "and lined with razor blades." She suddenly spat in his face then, hitting him just below the right eye.

Amber's cheekbone exploded in pain and her head shot to the side. When she opened her eyes she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. Philip was now almost nose to nose with her, apparently having already wiped his face.

"Consider that a warning, mon cher. The next time I won't be as kind." He turned and walked to the door. "Come with me Martinez, we have more guests to prepare for."

Martinez gave Kaye one last grope before following Philip like the trained dog he was. Amber watched them leave, her mind intent on her purpose. She was going to fight like a hellcat to stay alive and if Daryl did find her body, he would at least be proud she raised as much hell as she could before she went.

**Review, yes please?**


	35. Chapter 35

**I am soooo glad y'all really got the sense of panic that I was trying to convey with the men's scene, I spent a lot of time on it and was a little worried.**

**The Amber/Kaye 'bromance' (sistermance, how does that work?) nearly killed me at the end of this chapter. Be ready for the feels! Tissues at ready!**

Daryl had started to regain his hearing by the time he and Merle entered the main room of the clubhouse, the ringing in his ears wearing down as he regained a little bit of sane thought. There was a commotion in the meeting room and they moved toward it but then he caught sight of something pink in the floor by the body. It was her, her color, and he walked toward it automatically.

He crouched down, picking up her phone gingerly, almost as if it would disappear. It was smashed, the screen obliterated and crumbling.

"Looks like she put up a fight." Merle said, squatting down beside him.

"Course she did." he heard himself choke out, just before gingerly placing the ruined phone back down where he found it. He was about to stand when something else caught his eye, a glint of chrome under the edge of the couch. He knelt down, putting his cheek down to the floor to look into the shadows.

"What is it?" Merle said, voice low.

"Hold on."

Daryl wormed his hand under the couch and came back with Amber's switchblade, covered in blood and blade still extended.

He came up off the floor onto his knees and looked up at his brother, and then the body just to their right, the pool of congealing blood only inches away.

"She killed'im." Merle stated the obvious and Daryl nodded, murmuring "Good girl." Then he caught sight of Leon, sitting at the bar at the other end of the large room, his hand being hurriedly wrapped by Jim. He started to stand and Merle grabbed his arm.

"Put it up!" he hissed as Daryl jerked his arm away. He leaned in and lowered his voice even more. "Listen, somethin ain't right here and I ain't figured it out just yet. Put the damn blade up!"

Daryl retracted the knife and shoved it down in his boot, shaking his head. "We best figure it out quick, god dammnit! She ain't got a whole lot a time!"

Merle stood and Daryl followed, going into the meeting room. A whole section of the far wall was...was just gone, slid to the side. Beyond it was another room, smaller but crowded. The brothers filled the entryway, their surprise clear. The whole area was lined with gun racks, more weapons than Daryl had seen in his life. Everything from the shotguns and rifles he was familiar with to what looked like high powered fully automatics that he was pretty sure were illegal, at least in the U.S. unless you were active military. Under each rack were shelves of ammunition, matched to the weapons above. Above the guns were hung close quarter weapons, machetes, knifes larger than the one that hung at his waist, even a wicked claw hammer and lengths of heavy chain and garrote wire. This wasn't a gun cabinet.

It was a war room.

Norm was franticly pulling weapons down and dumping them and ammo onto the metal table in the middle of the room. Tyreese quickly pulled open a drawer and started throwing large black duffel bags out at the men that surrounded the table. The men started grabbing off the table, each packing their own bag. Daryl and Merle elbowed their way into the fray.

The younger brother stayed to what he knew, grabbing up a Mossberg pump shotgun, figuring it would be better in close quarters. He dumped all the ammo for it he could reach in his bag plus some extra clips for the Desert Eagle that was in the small of his back.

Merle picked up a high powered sniper rifle, sighting down a scope that was worth more than Daryl's truck.

"You know how to use that?" Tyreese asked from across the table.

"Year and a half in Somalia." he answered, not even looking up as he packed the weapon in his bag, reaching for the corresponding box of bullets.

"Good deal, we need a long range man since Gary's out."

Daryl looked over the table, wishing to hell there were more bolts for the bow, but there were none. Barry was at Daryl's left side and he stilled suddenly, looking across the room at Norm over the chaos at the table.

Norm was feeling across the inside top of one of the gun cabinets, then stopped, finding what ever it was he was looking for. He popped his fist against the wood and a panel lifted. He pushed it to the side and reached into the hidden chamber, coming out with a small zippered leather bag. Walking around the table, he stopped behind Barry, standing behind him and Daryl as he opened the pouch, letting them block him from view of the rest of the men. Daryl saw a bag of white powder, a small square mirror, and a tiny glass straw as Norm rifled through it, checking the contents before zipping it back up.

"You really think the coke is gonna be necessary?" Barry asked quietly, under the noise around them.

Norm looked up, his face was like stone, his eyes blue ice. "Been ten years since the last time we needed it. New Orleans is a twelve hour drive, and I don't feel like sleepin, do you?!" Barry shook his head and turned back to his bag to zip it up. Norm looked over at Daryl.

"I'll do what I gotta, ta get her back." Daryl said, not waiting on him to ask before zipping up his own. Norm shoved the pouch in his bag and turned for the door. He only got halfway across the small space before Leon filled the doorway.

"They didn't take'm to New Orleans." he said loudly so his father could hear over the others.

Silence fell over the room. "What?" His father asked.

Leon didn't have time to answer before Barry's phone went off. He jerked it out of his vest pocket, not bothering to look at the screen.

"Yeah?"

Silence

"Oh god, Debbie?"

Daryl felt like a bomb went off in his chest and prayed for the first time in his life to a god he didn't believe in.

Please, let her be with her mama...

Barry winced and pinched the bridge of his nose before shaking his head at Norm and Daryl.

"Where are you? And you're alone?"

Silence, Daryl couldn't breathe now, hope ripped away as quickly as it had appeared.

"Stay there. I'll send someone after you."

Barry hung up and jerked his head at one of the men at the table.

"Go. She was dumped at that bar on the Alabama line." The man took off out the door in a sprint, Leon stepping to the side for a second to let him through.

"And the others?" Merle found his voice before Daryl and Norm could.

"They took Debbie out first. They weren't in the same vehicle as her."

"They took her out right before I went down." Leon added from the door.

"What happened then?" Norm asked, jaw tensing.

"Yeah, how'dya get ya hand messed up?" Merle asked, sounding honestly curious. Daryl didn't dare look up at him, Merle could lie like a rug, but he didn't share the same skill.

"Amber put up a fight. That guy out there," he motioned toward the body out in the meeting room. "tried to get rough with her so I pulled my knife, I gott'im but he sliced me as he went down."

Merle nodded, seeming satisfied. Daryl concentrated on counting, one two three four, breathe in, one two three four, breath out. The only thing that kept him from pulling his own knife and sticking it in the big lying bastards eye was knowing that if he lost his shit again, Amber would pay the price.

Leon went on, "They clocked me in the head and somehow I ended up behind the bar. I reckon they forgot about me, or thought they hit me hard enough to kill me. I heard enough before they got me. They're in an abandoned office building in town, I know where it's at. We gotta go!"

"You're in no shape to ride, with that hand." Barry shook his head at his son.

"I can ride with whoever drives the truck with the guns." Leon countered.

Tyreese opened his mouth but Merle beat him to it. "I'll drive it." Tyreese just shrugged and pulled the keys and tossed them to him.

"Let's move!" Leon barked from his spot from the door before making his way to the front, looking for all the world like he was in charge. The men started quickly filing out the door and Merle bumped Norm's shoulder.

"What?" he growled.

"Wait a minute."

"Ain't got time.."

"For this ya do, now wait a goddamn minute."

Merle waited until everyone was gone before shutting the door, leaving only him, Norm, and Daryl.

"Start talkin, boy." the older man said, "We gotta ride."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

The cramps in Amber's calves were immense, hurting so badly that her eyes smarted. She let her weight fall onto her wrists again, the cuffs biting into the delicate skin. It allowed her to relax her legs for a few minutes though, even if her hands quickly went numb.

"How'ya doing, baby girl?" Kaye asked.

"Just peachy." she gritted out.

"They're coming. We just have to hold on until they get here" Kaye sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as Amber.

"Leon..."

"Norm and Daryl are smart, they'll figure it out. That brother of his doesn't look like a fool either."

Amber nodded and they were quiet for a few minutes.

"What if they come back, before..."

"Then we'll handle it. We'll do what we have to, to live."

"How, Kaye? How did you, you know, when...before..."

Kaye waited a few seconds to answer and when she did, her voice was thin and reedy. "You have to just go somewhere else in your head. Pick your best memory of you and Daryl and go there."

Amber nodded and swallowed. "I don't want to cry."

"Then don't. That's one thing they can't force on you, how you react."

"I love him, so much..." Amber's voice broke.

"I know, baby girl. Use it...use that to hold on to...when you need to."

"It's been less than a month, already I..." Amber paused, not knowing how to say what she meant.

"I know, trust me. You know when I fell in love with Norm? When I walked out to my daddy's shop and he popped his head out from under the hood of that old Charger he used to drive. He hadn't even said a word to me yet and I was already long gone." She smiled at the memory despite their current situation.

"Daryl slow danced with me in my trailer one night. Well, he stood there while I danced. It was like he was afraid to touch me, like I would break. When it was over I kissed him, just in the middle of his chest since I couldn't reach his cheek."

Kaye didn't answer and Amber looked over. Her head was down, tears running down her cheeks as she was lost in her own memory, sobbing.

Amber cried then, letting loose all the tears she had held back since they had been taken and then all the ones for what she knew was coming. She would get it all out before Philip and Martinez came back through that door, not giving them the satisfaction of breaking her down. They could break her body but not her heart.

Somebody else already held that in his calloused hands.


	36. Chapter 36

**Ugh, this chapter bout killed me! I love you all so much, love your reviews! We are gonna start out with some cheers and end up with tears. I'm so sorry!**

The ride out to the office building took twenty three minutes exactly, Merle knew because he kept a watch on the clock on the dash of the black dually he was driving. After everyone had loaded their bags into the back of the truck, he and Leon had taken their seats, with Leon staying as far to the passenger side as he could. Merle kept a cool head, knowing everything would be blown if he suspected something was amiss and tipped Le Mechant off.

So he asked Leon what he thought the best place to enter the office building would be, playing to his ego and hunger for his father's seat. He seemed sure their would be a side employee entrance that would be out of sight of the main street and unguarded. Merle just nodded, as if the stupid liar was a covert operations specialist.

The truck led the group of bikes, with Barry and Norm right on his tailpipe. Tyreese had taken sweep since he wasn't in the truck, keeping the group tight. Speed was of the essence, they didn't have time to wait for stragglers. Daryl wound in between Barry and Norm, and then would pull up to Merle's window before falling back to repeat. Merle knew his baby brother was worried about Leon trying something in the truck but he doubted it himself. This was shaping up to look like he was supposed to lead them into an ambush, there was no reason to prevent them getting there. Merle also knew Daryl was aching to push ahead on the Scrambler, with its greater speed and handling, but there was no sense in it. The group as a whole couldn't go but so fast and for him to go in alone wouldn't do anything but get him and the women killed.

It was one fourty in the morning when the dually pulled into the back lot of a dentists office, only lit by the dim bulb above the back door. They all gathered at the tailgate, while Norm handed out the bags. Each man took on his weapons, filling pockets of vests and jeans with extra ammo. Then Barry paired them off for an initial sweep of the perimeter of the building to knock out any early warning from guards. He automatically put the Dixons together but Merle shook his head.

"I need ta get ta high ground, pres, ta snipe, and ya need my bro close in. Don't make sense ta have us together."

Barry raised an eyebrow but then nodded. "You're right. So whose with Daryl?"

"Leon, can ya hold your shit together?" Norm asked out of the blue, "To use anybody else puts out the teams we usually use, and we need everyone at their best."

Leon eyed Daryl for a second and a smirk threatened at the corner of his mouth before he covered it with a grim look and nodded. "I got it. I want to take them down as bad as he does."

Norm looked at Daryl who just nodded. They then broke into the pairs, Merle giving Daryl a long look before he slipped off into the bushes. Each team was approaching the building from a different direction, not wanting to go in as a whole and get discovered by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Daryl and Leon moved through the bushes, every step the lumbering idiot took getting on the hunter's nerves. On top of the fact that Daryl was almost totally sure Leon had betrayed them all and that he was going to kill him before the night was done, but to top it off he couldn't be quiet when he walked which was grating on his nerves as they went through the scrub brush around the defunct office complex. But in the end, Daryl was glad for the noise, it saved his life.

After ten minutes of listening to Leon's footsteps tearing apart the underbrush behind him, they were finally at the brick wall of the office building. Daryl stopped to get his bearings, and that's when he heard it, or actually didn't hear it. Leon had gone silent behind him and then there was the swish of rapid movement through the muggy summer air.

Daryl's first thought as he dropped to the ground was that Merle better fuckin be where he said he would. Leon's knife grazed his temple on the way down, which was a lot better than driving into his back where it had been aimed. If he hadn't been on the lookout for a move like that, he would be bleeding out in the red Georgia clay right now. It was too dark to depend entirely on his sight so he used his hearing, the big ass had no clue how to be quiet anyway. Daryl followed it over the half second it took for Leon to figure out he had missed his mark and then leg swept him on his left side, the one he had been limping on since being "attacked" Saturday morning. Merle had figured it was actually him that had injured Leon at the trailer that night, and now it looked like his brother was right.

Unfortunately, Leon was able to twist as he fell and landed directly top of Daryl. The hunter's hand had been going for his own knife and was now trapped between them, both men only able to grunt with the exertion of the fight, even unable to curse. Leon's blade came up in Daryl's face and he grabbed his wrist, forcing it out of his way and head butted him, the only move available at the moment. Daryl's head exploded in pain on impact but he didn't recoil. His own daddy had hit him a hell of a whole lot harder than that. Leon did pull back however and the man below him used the momentum to flip them over. That freed Daryl's right hand and he was able to knock Leon's knife loose from his hand into the dark. Leon brought a left up into his stomach though, knocking the wind out of him. He bent double but was able to lodge his forearm across the windpipe below him. Daryl took a whistling breath in and drove his weight into his arm as Leon flailed beneath him. Then Daryl felt cold metal slide across his arm that was lodged across Leon's throat a second before he was dragged up and off him, to cough and gasp in the dust to his side.

"Ya alright?" Norm asked, crouching down.

Daryl just nodded, wiping the blood from his cut temple out of his eye before addressing Merle, who had a heavy duty chain wrapped around Leon's neck and was pulling it as the big man dug his fingers frantically at the links, his face turned purple for the second time that night.

"Took ya damn long enough, bro." he said.

"Sorry," Merle grunted with exertion, bracing his boots on Leon's shoulders. "We got caught up with a couple frenchies."

Daryl didn't have to ask how it went. Merle and Norm were breathing, so the Le Mechant they had encountered weren't.

"Sides," Merle continued, "I been back ta back with ya in enough bar fights ta know ya could handle'im till we got here."

Leon's struggles started to weaken and Norm noticed.

"Let up." he said casually to Merle, like it was the most natural thing in the world to be strangling a man you had helped raise, outside at two a.m.

Merle let enough chain slide through his hands to let Leon take a weak choking breath. Norm bent over him, pinning a shoulder down with one of his knees and grabbing a hand full of Leon's hair to pull his head up.

"Where are they?!" he asked, voice cold.

"Fuck...you..." Leon managed to wheeze out before Norm's fist connected with his already bruised nose. It broke this time, blood gushing as Merle took up the slack again in the chain. He let him founder for a second before letting him take another breath.

The arm that wasn't pinned under Norm tried to grab at the older man's gun in it's holster under his vest but Daryl grabbed it and put his own knee on that one, himself now side by side with Norm as they loomed over Amber's traitorous brother.

"Where are they?!" Daryl repeated the previous question.

Leon just shook his head and tried to spit on Daryl and failed miserably. It's kind of hard to spit when you can't breathe. Norm shook his head and pulled his gun. Merle was keeping his cool, and eyed the two other men carefully. He had seen enough blood lust while in service and hoped his brother and Norm could keep it in check long enough to get the information they needed.

Norm brought the barrel of his gun to press into Leon's forehead.

"NOW, Leon! WHERE ARE THEY?"

"You won't," he coughed "shoot me out here."

He had a point, they didn't need to announce their presence but they needed to find out what they could, and fast. Daryl reached for the bow where it had fell when he hit the ground, bringing it up point blank against Leon's shoulder.

"Naw, HE won't, but I will."

The arrow was instantly impaled through Leon's shoulder. At the point blank distance, it traveled through the meat all the way through, and drove into the dry clay beneath him. He bucked like a bronco under them and would have screamed if he had enough breath to. They gave him a minute and Merle backed off on the chain.

"Are they here, in THIS building?!" Norm waved his arm at the three story brick structure behind them. Daryl centered his reloaded bow against Leon's other shoulder to punctuate the question, his finger hovering over the trigger. Leon gave the bow one look and nodded his head frantically.

"Yes...YES! They're here!" he choked out.

"Where?" Daryl asked. Leon shook his head.

"Don't...know..."

Daryl grabbed the base of the arrow protruding from Leon's shoulder in front of him and gave it a twist. Leon jumped and tried to scream again.

"I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD I DON'T KNOW!"

"Then what door are they expecting us to come in?" Norm tried to go in another direction. Daryl's hand hovered over the arrow, ready to go again. Leon kept his eyes on that hand the whole time he answered.

"Side employee entrance...told'em I'd lead you in through there."

Daryl leaned up and put the end of the bow against the middle of Leon's chest. "Ya SURE?"

"YES!"

Norm nodded and stepped up off Leon. He ran his hand through his hair.

"All right then."

Leon looked up at him. "What? You can't kill me, daddy won't let you."

Norm looked down and him, incredulous. "Ya betrayed the whole club, got ya mama, sister, and MY OLD LADY taken, and god knows what else..."

"Fuck it!" Leon spat. Merle just let him talk, taking enough rope to hang himself, as the proverb goes. "I'll just tell him these two hicks jumped me and you helped them."

"Why? You let them take yore goddamn MAMA!"

"She wasn't supposed to be involved, it was only because GI Joe jumped me at the farm." Merle gave Daryl an 'I told you so' look and smirked. "Only my whore sister an AAAAAAAHHHHHHH" At the mention of Amber, Daryl had grabbed the arrow, pulling it halfway out before jamming it in at another angle, pushing a new ragged path through flesh and blood.

"ENOUGH!" came a yell from the shadows a few feet to their left, opposite the building. Barry stepped out, arms crossed over his chest, his face unreadable. Daryl released the arrow and sat back, letting Barry have a full view of his son.

"Thank GOD," Leon husked out, "Daddy! They jumped me, get me up!"

Barry leaned over his son's face, his eyes narrowing. "Do you ever stop lying?"

"Wha..." Leon's jaw dropped in shock as he looked up at his father.

"I been here the whole time, heard all of it."

Leon looked between the three men who had been interrogating him. "You bastards set me UP!"

They just looked down at him. Barry looked over at Norm, "You get what you needed?"

"Yeah, they're here. The club is waitin in ambush inside that side door like ya heard."

Barry nodded, "Fine. Then we go in the back. Meet up in five." He turned to walk away.

"Wait, NO, daddy please! I'm your SON!" Leon pleaded.

Barry stopped but didn't turn, keeping his back to the man on the ground.

"My son died a long time ago, you're just a monster. Five minutes, Norm."

He walked away into the dark. Leon started to yell out again but Merle tightened up on the chain, cutting him off. Norm and Daryl shared a look and Norm went to pull his knife from it's sheath. Daryl shook his head and reached down in his boot.

"Naw, I got it." he said quietly as the man beneath him struggled weakly, his air supply cut off.

It was ironic that Leon, a man who had spent most of his life trying to prove he was a bigger and badder man than any other, especially his father, died with a pearl pink switchblade buried in his throat.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber had finally stopped crying when she felt something hot drip onto her face from above, instead of the chill of tears soaking her cheeks. She looked up to see that the handcuffs had broken through the skin of her numb wrists and blood was running down her forearms.

"Oh...shit...Kaye..." she whimpered.

Kaye's head swung up. "Oh, god, baby girl! Back on your toes, hurry!"

Amber tried to push up but her right calf immediately seized in a muscle crushing cramp. She yelped and then bit her lip, pushing up on her left foot and pressed her right foot against the wall behind her. Gradually the cramp released, but as it dissipated, the feeling started to come back in her hands. The pins and needles feeling was manageable but then the sting and burn of the broken skin came through. Amber felt like thousands of fire ants were biting her wrists and the base of her palms. She screamed and reflexively fell back off her toes, trying to make her hands go numb again.

"NO!" Kaye yelled. "Back up, BACK UP NOW! Please girl, if they break through veins you'll bleed to death! UP AMBER, NOW!"

Amber pushed back up, keening at the pain.

"Aw, how sweet, mi preciosa, all the love!" Martinez snickered from the door, he must have come in when Kaye started yelling.

"Shut the fuck up and LET HER DOWN!" she yelled, not concerned with making him angry.

"I can't, she's not my toy." he shrugged as he walked over to Kaye. "However, you are, and we are going to play un juego. Yes?"

"Fuck you and your games, Cesar. You forget I've played before."

Martinez was now pressing his body against Kaye's. "Listen to me, preciosa. If you try to hit me again," he pulled his knife from his belt and waved it at Amber as she fought to stay upright despite the pain eating at her wrists "I'll cut the girl. Understand?"

Kaye nodded once, looking over at Amber. Amber shook her head back, Kaye couldn't let him hurt her just to protect her.

Martinez pressed his hips against Kaye's, grinding against her. "Feel that? Told you it was still fully functional."

Kaye just looked away.

"Answer me!" He demanded.

She nodded, biting her lip as her eyes shimmered. Martinez cupped her jaw with his free hand. "Don't bite me, don't you dare." he whispered before forcing his mouth on hers, his tongue immediately invading her mouth. Amber looked away, unable to see the woman who helped raise her be violated. Kaye remained silent and he pulled back to tsk. "Now, it's no fun if you don't fight back and scream." He brought the knife up, drifting it across her collarbone before using it to cut open her shirt and bra. He began groping her roughly and yet she remained stoic, focused on a spot on the wall behind him. Amber knew Kaye had left, gone to that memory.

Martinez stopped his actions to consider Kaye's face carefully. "What's happened to you, preciosa? Has life in the junkyard wore you down? You were screaming and kicking by this point last time." He leaned in, his voice taking on a razor's edge. "Maybe I should pretty you up for your junkyard dog, yeah? He's coming, and I'm going to drag him up here so he can watch me fuck you while he dies." Kaye's eyes closed for a second at the mention of Norm but that was all, she was gone.

Martinez brought his knife up to Kaye's face, just to the outside of her right eye. "Many women your age have work done, so maybe you should go under the knife too? Make you extra pretty for the perro?" He laughed for a second like he had made a hilarious joke. Then the tip of his knife pressed into her skin, a bead of blood blooming at the point where they met. He stopped laughing to concentrate on his work. Kaye's eyes widened when the blade broke through and a pitiful noise came from her throat.

"Not enough, let's try some more." he decreed. The knife drug down and finally Kaye opened her mouth, letting go a "No!" as she tried to pull away. Martinez grabbed her jaw, forcing her to be still. "Too late, BITCH!" he yelled in her face, pulling the knife down as she screamed. He cut a gash from the corner of her right eye, curving over her cheek bone and down to the corner of her mouth, jagged and deep, almost going through her cheek in two spots. By the time he finished, Kaye was screaming, blood streaming down her face and neck to soak her shirt.

"STOP!" Amber pulled at her cuffs, forgetting her own pain. "NO!"

Martinez leaned back, admiring his work. "Much better." He nodded. "Now we have to make the other side match." The bloody knife came back up, just outside her left eye.

Just then the door opened Philip stepping in. "Martinez, downstairs now, it's time." he clipped out.

"But..." Cesar looked between Philip and the mutilated woman in front of him.

"Later." Philip commanded. "One of the patrols didn't report in."

Martinez beamed at Kaye as she whimpered and cowered before him. "Show time, pretty lady." he said brightly before turning to jog out the door while drawing his gun.

Philip walked over to Amber, his nose wrinkling up in disgust when he looked at Kaye as she nearly hung from her cuffs, weeping and bleeding. "Martinez is such an animal, no idea how to treat a lady. Don't you agree?" he asked Amber.

"They're here."

"Yes," he smiled "they are."

"You'll be dead soon." she stated flatly.

Philip shook his head. "Hope can be an ugly thing, mon cher. It disillusions and let's us down."

Amber looked straight ahead as Philip advanced on her until she could feel the heat from his body.

"Shouldn't you be downstairs, getting shot?" she suddenly said, not looking at him.

"Ah, no, mon cher. It's been a long time since I've done that kind of thing. I've risen above it." His hands brushed over her hips, grip tightening as he slid his hands up over her waist, pushing her tank top up as he went. His eyes flashed down, watching as her bra and breasts were revealed. Amber swallowed down the urge to vomit.

"You are beautiful, cher. Like a true woman." he breathed but then his brows drew down as he looked at something with interest. He pulled back the cup of her bra a little, fully revealing the bite mark Daryl had left there the night before.

Philip looked back up at her grinning. "Mon cher, something tells me you like the rougher side of the bed."

"What I like in bed would turn your hair grey."

He chuckled then. "Ah, such spirit. This is going to be wonderful." His hands left her breasts, one going to a pocket of his vest, withdrawing a key while the other grasped her numb wrists.

"Listen to me, little one. I'm going to loose your hands. If you try ANYTHING, I shoot your friend over there. Understand?"

Amber nodded slowly, looking over at Kaye's withered form for a second. Then he unlocked the cuffs and she yelled when her arms fell, shoulders exploding in agony. Her feet and legs felt like jelly after so long working at their maximum and she crumpled to the floor.

Philip laughed again. "Suddenly so eager! What a surprise!"

He crouched down in front of her, stroking the side of her face. His fingertips felt like death itself against skin and she flinched away in spite of herself.

He slapped her hard enough to make her head hit the wall behind her and she yelped. "Don't pull away from me! DON'T EVER PULL AWAY FROM ME!" he commanded. Amber tasted blood in her mouth but didn't dare spit it out, swallowing the coppery taste instead. Then he was grabbing her, one hand with a handful of her hair and the other grabbing the waist band of her jeans. The sudden movement and the state of her legs and arms left her wavering, only able to remain balanced because of his hands. Philip was on his knees too now and his hand stopped pulling her hair to join the other at her waist. She heard the button pop and the zipper right before his hands roughly pushed her jeans and panties down as far as where her knees met the floor. She whimpered when the cool air touched her skin but didn't pull away, afraid not for herself but for the bloodied woman crying softly over her left shoulder.

Suddenly, he grabbed her hair again with one hand and the floor rose up to meet her, her face hitting the cheap rough industrial carpet so hard that a front tooth pierced the inside of her lower lip. Her jeans and underwear were jerked down to right above her ankles and he straddled her. She heard the sound of his zipper and a rustle of cloth and dug her face into the carpet, willing herself away just before his hands dug into her hips to pull her ass up, leaving her chest on the floor and exposing her sex to him. He leaned over her and she felt...it brush against her just before he whispered.

"You know, cher, I was going to be gentle, but considering you like it rough, a man should try to please his lady, yes? And I'm glad I waited until now to do this. You'll still be bleeding when they drag your dying archer up here."

Amber didn't answer Philip. She wasn't there in that room anymore, she had left it behind. She went home, went to Daryl.


	37. Chapter 37

**Wow, I woke up at 3 a.m. and checked my email. I was astonished at the response the last chapter got, you guys amaze me. So I stayed up the rest of the night to write this chapter for you! So many people are really GETTING this story. I kept checking my followers and favoriters, thinking I was going to lose people left and right. But you all are realizing how DEEP the connection Daryl and Amber have. And know, this fic isn't ending when they leave this office building, we got at least ten chapters to go after that. Don't hate me okay? I am one of those people that believes that people who have experienced the lowest of lows can truly appreciate the highest of highs in life.**

**Also, the hero can't always get there in just the nick of time to prevent ANY damage being done, no matter how much we ALL want him to, me included. The true hero sticks around after the damage is done, helping the damaged to heal...**

_Amber was sitting on the dock back on the pond, feet dangling in the water. It was so hot, the only noise the dry buzz of cicadas._

Oh God, it hurts...

_Daryl sat by her, his own boots off and feet in the water. She turned to look at him and he gave her one of those smirks, like when he wants to smile but is too shy to. She loves him so much her heart hurts._

It hurts everywhere, her wrists, her face, but between her legs most of all.

_Daryl's rough hand tangles with hers for a moment before he brings it to his lips slowly, his eyes asking if this is okay. She smiles her answer. He drops a kiss on her knuckles before putting their hands back on the hot weathered wood between them. He asks "Ya remember?"_

The jolts push her forward until her hips buckle and she slides forward, face scraping against the carpet again.

"_Yeah, I remember. I love you too." She does, so much. He's not perfect, but he's perfect for HER and that's enough. His smile turns sad then. "I'm comin for ya."_

She can't breathe, the weight on her is crushing her as Philip pants grossly in her ear.

"_I know you are. It hurts though..." her voice sounds strangely calm. Daryl nods and she sees his eyes swim with tears for the first time ever. "I'm so sorry, I'm tryin...We're tryin...just hold on...fight..."_

Suddenly Amber can breathe again as he rolls off and to the side. She can hear Kaye crying, saying "no" over and over. She takes a chance, reaching down to pull her jeans up. When the fabric contacts her crotch it sets it on fire again and she feels blood sticky on her thighs. She knew anyway.

Amber does the button and zipper, wanting to get as much between her and that monster as she can. He sighs next to her and then sits up for a second, smiling down at her and stroking her hair. For the first time in her life, she has the urge to shave her head.

Then Philip stands, still with that lazy smile, like he just had the time of his life. She wants to kill him herself, not wait on someone else. Have to move now, while he's not expecting it. Her boot comes up and she jams it between his legs, right into the offending member. His look of surprise and agony gives her deep satisfaction. Kaye screams when she sees what she has done, but Philip is speechless, falling hunched over to his knees clutching at himself. His gun in holstered on his left, perfect, so she lunges for it, handcuffs still dangling off one bloody wrist. She wraps her fingers around the handle but the blood makes her fingers slippery and she can't find purchase. Then he has her forearms in his hands and she knows it's over.

"You FUCKING BITCH!" His fist makes contact with her face and the pain is exquisite, sharp as a razor blade as she feels a bone crunch below her eye. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU STUPID WHORE!" He hits her twice more, the force bouncing her head against the floor under it. She can't see out of her right eye and now her face is slippery like her thighs. She feels her grip on being awake start to falter, just like her grip on the gun.

_hold on...fight...I'm comin.._.

She snaps her one working eye back open as Philip stands back up. Kaye isn't screaming anymore, she's stripped her voice, she can only croak as she pulls at her cuffs, blood running down her arms now too.

"HEARD YOU LIKE TO DANCE, LET'S FIX THAT." His boot comes down on her knee and there is no way she can let go of reality now. The agony that hits her leg is like nothing she has experienced before, she can feel tendons ripping away from their moorings. He does it again and she feels a bone shift unnaturally in the white hot lighting that has replaced her knee. She turns her head to vomit onto the carpet next to her. One more time his boot comes down and there is a snap, now her lower leg doesn't look...right, anymore. The angle is all wrong and just looking at it makes the room spin around her, rather than the pain.

Philip stands up straight suddenly, head cocked as if listening. The look on his face says something's wrong. Amber hears it now too, the firecracker pop of gunfire, as familiar as her grandmother's perfume, coming from below them. It must be too much, or maybe it's coming from the wrong place because he has forgotten his goal of stomping her to death.

The Demons are here, and it sounds like they are raising hell.

Philip looks down at her just before jerking her up by her hair, then working his arm under one of hers and over a shoulder so he can drag her. Amber tries to say something to Kaye, who is still panicking in her bonds, body slamming into the wall as she fights a fruitless fight against iron. But her mouth is full of blood and by the time she spits it out he has her at the door, opening it with his free hand. The gunfire is suddenly louder, sounding so close and so far away at the same time. She recognizes her one second of opportunity.

_fight...I'm comin..._

Amber sucks in a lungful of air as she is dragged backwards and screams with everything she has, the one word that has kept her tethered to this world the whole night.

"DARYL!"

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Getting from the back loading dock doors to the side entrance was the easy part. They moved with almost complete military efficiency. Barry led, with Norm and Daryl next, Merle behind Daryl's back followed by the others. They only met a couple of Le Mechant wandering in the halls, the vast majority of their manpower must have been concentrated at the ambush.

Pompous bastards.

The ones they did run into didn't even have time to make a sound. The first got Barry's knife to his throat and the next two got arrows in the eye. As he passed the bodies, Norm would reach down, not even faltering his step as he jerked the bolt loose before handing it back over his shoulder to Daryl. The hunter only had one thing running through his mind the whole time.

_I'm comin, sweet girl...hold on...fight.._.

They finally advanced close to the ambush sight and Barry stopped them, pushing his head around a corner to confirm. He turned back to his men and nodded, they were in the right place. His hand flashed out three times, five fingers, five fingers, then two. Twelve to their seven. Then he looked at Norm and held three fingers down, making the letter 'M'. Norm's eyes narrowed, body tensed as he silently mouthed two words.

"He's mine."

Everyone nodded, not having to ask who he was referring to.

Martinez.

Barry pointed to Daryl, Merle and Norm and then at the flight of steps that ascended to the second floor across from them. He wanted them to cross the hall and take cover on the landing, giving them the advantage of height as well as cover. The only problem was they would be totally exposed when they crossed over the hall, open to the men eighty feet down the long hallway. Norm stepped forward, glancing down the hallway for a second before slipping across the hall. He moved silently and everyone held their breath, waiting for the report of a gun to tell them he had been spotted. It never came. Merle peeked around the corner, gun drawn, and pulled back to smirk at Daryl before joining Norm. Then it was Daryl's turn and he found out why his brother had smirked. All the Le Mechant men were focused on the door in front of them, expecting Leon to lead the Demon's into the trap and no one was watching behind them. Daryl could have cartwheeled across the hall and they wouldn't have noticed.

Fucking idiots.

Two seconds later he joined his brother and Merle on the landing. Barry nodded at him, Tyreese and the other's taking shooters stances beside him. It would be on Daryl's shot, he would take out the one closest to the door and then as many others as he could in the confusion. Merle lay on the landing next to Daryl's boots, sighting down the sniper rifle. Only when they figured out where the arrows were coming from and started to turn would the Demon's shoot. Once a shot was fired everyone in the building would know they were there, including whoever was with the women.

Daryl shouldered the bow and heard Norm take in a sharp breath. He looked more intensely down the hall and saw what had Norm frozen in place. The dark skinned man in the middle, he looked like he was in charge and must have been the Martinez he had heard so much about. His hands were covered in blood up to the elbow. Daryl reached a hand out to Norm, wanting to make sure he was ready to go. Before he could make contact Norm jerked his head up and then pointed down the hall.

_Do it!_

Daryl brought the bow up again and sighted the shot, the farthest man out, closest to the door. The men looked bored, lazy. This was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel, out numbered or not.

He took out two before any of them realized enough in the confusion to look back down the hall. Martinez fired first, his shot spraying chips of sheetrock in Daryl's face as he spun back under the cover of the wall next to the landing. Then it was a chaos of gunfire from both sides, Merle's rifle exploding at his feet and Norm's Desert Eagle next to them. He sighted the bow down the hall again and this time missed, the arrow whizzing to bounce away past his target.

"FUCK!"

He took a deep breath, washing away the panic that was rising up as he reloaded. Merle's rifle roared again and he saw a man's head explode next to Martinez. Norm took one. Barry's side was holding their own, bringing down three so far. Then Daryl saw Barry jerk back, the shoulder of his vest blown open and blood pouring out. Tyreese grabbed him by the collar and pulled him behind him and out of the line of fire before taking his place at the corner.

Martinez grabbed another smaller man and used him as cover to get to a emergency stairwell door to the side. Norm hesitated in indecision, whether to stand and fire or take off up their own staircase to cut him off. Daryl let another arrow loose and it flew true this time. Now there were only four left at the end of the hall. There was a momentary lapse in the gunfire and he heard it.

He heard her.

"DARYL!"

He whirled around, looking wide eyed up the staircase behind them. Norm did too and then Daryl felt Merle kick him in the ankle to get his attention.

"GO! BOTH A YA! WE GOT THESE PUSSIES!"

Daryl and Norm charged up the stairs, not bothering to even look back at the waining firefight behind them. The ran out onto the second floor landing and Daryl froze out of hunter's instinct, ears tuning in any noise they could. Norm went to run around him, then stopped to open his mouth. Daryl silenced him with a hand held up and then a finger held to his lips. Norm under stood and waited even though his whole body was vibrating with adrenalin. Daryl closed his eyes, listening.

_I'm comin, girl...hold on..._

He heard it, a heavy door shutting hard above them. His eyes popped open and he turned back up the stairwell.

"Come one, they're on up!"

He sprinted up them, Norm right on his heels. They stumbled out on the third floor and their was no guessing which door to take. One at the middle of the hallway, fifty feet down, was flung open and there was a harsh rasping noise coming from inside. Neither noticed that the gunfire had just stopped below them.

They ran to the door, Daryl pulling slightly ahead. He didn't recognize the person hanging from the wall for a second there was so much blood. But then Norm whizzed by him, not hesitating.

"NO! KAYE!"

He was on her, one arm around her waist, holding her up between him and the wall while the other pulled futilely at the iron ring she was pinned to. Daryl ran over, throwing the strap of the bow over his shoulder and pulling the Desert Eagle from his waistband. He grabbed the wrist Norm was pulling at the ring with.

"Ain't gonna work! Cover her and I'll shoot the lock!"

Norm pulled Kaye's head down into his chest and covered her arms and hands with his own as best he could, his fingers clasped over hers and away from the lock. Daryl pointed the gun at the lock, the angle up and away from Norm and Kaye. The report was loud in the office and splinters flew as the bullet was buried in the wall. The metal split in two and then Norm unthreaded the cuffs, sinking to the floor with his wife. She looked up at Daryl.

"Go...that way..." she rasped out, nodding to the right of the door. Daryl was out the door then, less then ten feet down the hall when he found the blood. He crouched in the floor, touching his fingertips to the red stain. It was fresh, not even sticky.

Two minutes, he was less than two minutes behind them. He followed the blood trail, his stomach clenching the more he read it. Further down the hall there was a larger patch, as big as his hand. Then he looked up and saw six (exactly six, he would remember this for the rest of his life) drops spattered on the wall.

The son of a bitch had hit her, with something hard, probably the butt of his gun. This was where Amber had screamed and he shut her up. That was the moment Daryl turned back into the cold hunter from earlier, those six crimson drops flipping a switch in his head. He had a trail to read, the most important of his life.

Daryl looked back down and then on up the hall. The blood was hers, of course. He was dragging her and there was something wrong with one of her legs. He had followed enough crippled animals through the woods to know the sign of a foot being dragged. Amber was still awake though, she was using her good leg, pushing off every so often, as she was pulled backwards.

_Hold on...I'm comin, sweet girl.._.

Daryl followed the drips around a corner and ten more feet when they turned to the right into an alcove that led to a shadowed set of four steps. At the top of the steps was a red door, a simple sign designating it "Roof Entrance Only".

Daryl shoved the gun in it's place in the waist band of his jeans and pulled the bow around to load it. He started to kick the door open but stopped, choosing to press it open slowly, only enough to slip through into the humid Georgia summer night air.

This Demon was ready to add one to hell's population, even as he snatched his angel away from the gates of heaven.

_Hold on, sweet girl...I'm comin..._


	38. Chapter 38

**Let me thank everyone for realizing the work I put into the last chapter, especially the beginning. I hated to write it, but as far as the story went, I had no choice if I was going to stay true to the story. Y'alls reviews keep me going! Thank you all!**

"Oh god...baby...oh god..."

Norm was caught halfway between elation that he had found Kaye alive and panic at the extent of her injuries. He kept repeating himself while running his hands over her torso. Only when he realized his hands were sticky did he register that her face was still bleeding. He reached back and tore off his shirt and vest in one motion, throwing the vest to one side to wad up the shirt and press it to the side of her face. She flinched back when it made contact and he jumped, but then pressed back down.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry baby...gotta get somethin on it..."

She nodded weakly, exhaustion setting in. Norm pulled her deeper into his lap, lost to the outside world for the moment, which was how he missed the sound of running footsteps approaching. She was looking over his shoulder at the door when Martinez ran through it. He actually skidded to a stop, that's how surprised he was to see his 'preciosa' free and in the arms of her 'junkyard dog'. He stumbled as he immediately tried to turn back out of the room and Kaye was fast.

Terror does that to you.

She had Norm's gun out of his holster before Cesar could regain his footing and it went off just behind Norm's head before he could figure out what she was doing. Martinez jerked back, a hole blown in his right thigh. She had been aiming for the center of his chest but her hands weren't steady because of the injuries to her wrists. Martinez hit the floor of the hallway right outside of the door, writhing in pain.

Norm, not knowing what was going on behind him, reached up out of instinct, knocking the gun out of Kaye's hand and spun around as best he could on his knees while holding Kaye to him. As soon as he saw who it was he shoved her behind him and dove to retrieve his gun where it lay just out of reach. Martinez had one hand on his thigh, trying to stop the blood as it ran down while his other hand tried to paw his own gun from his waistband. Then there was more running and Martinez was over shadowed and then crushed under two very large bodies.

Norm came up with his gun but found his target already subdued. Tyreese had Martinez up and in a choke hold while Merle took his gun and knife.

"What we doing, Norm?" Tyreese asked, knowing this was their sergeant at arms catch.

"How is it downstairs?"

"Cleared. Jim's got pressure on Barry's wound, looks like a through and through."

"Where..." Merle began.

"That way." Norm pointed the direction Daryl had went less than ten minutes before. "Their pres has Amber, Daryl was right behind'em."

"She's hurt bad." Kaye rasped out, face half hidden under Norm's shirt. He looked down at his wife behind him, suddenly aware that her shirt and bra were cut open. Before he could turn back around a wad of black cloth came sailing over his shoulder.

"How bad?" asked a now shirtless and facing the other way Merle Dixon. "Bad as you, sugar?"

"Lot worse..."

"Aw FUCK!" Merle yelled as he took off down the hall the way his brother had gone.

"So what do we do with him?" Tyreese asked, Martinez still futilely struggling. Norm was helping Kaye slip on Merle's t-shirt.

"Take'im back to the clubhouse. I'll deal with him later. I gotta get her to the hospital first. Two guards at all times, full members, no prospects."

Tyreese nodded and then said to Martinez. "Come on, motherfucker, you just earned a ticket to hell...then we might let you die."

As he left, Kaye pushed at Norm and waved her hand in the direction the Dixons left in. "Go...help..."

Norm shook his head. "No, you gotta go! Daryl and Merle..."

Kaye hit his chest harder, franticly shaking her head. "No!" she rasped, "I'm okay for now...hurry! He'll kill her!"

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

There was no where to hide on the roof of the office building. It was perfectly flat except for a few metal folding chairs and ashtrays scattered around the door. Apparently it used to be a covert smoking area for employees when the building was in use. The lack of hiding places evened the odds a bit for all three persons involved. It was lit by a single naked bulb hanging next to the door on the outside. Daryl reached up cautiously and pulled the chain as he stepped through the door, fully expecting the bulb to be blown. Instead, it cast an instant weak glow over the surrounding area, assisted only a couple of street lights three stories below, the moon having already set for the night. Daryl hated to give away his position like that but he couldn't risk a close quarters shot in almost darkness with Amber held hostage.

They were against the far side, he saw them immediately. Amber was sitting out in front of one of the half walls that bordered the roof. Even in his cold hunter mindset, Daryl had to fight to not run to her, to do so would only earn her a bullet from the gun aimed at her head. One whole side of her face was swollen grotesquely with one eye shut and that side of her lip split open and bleeding. A patch of hair on the side of her head looked sticky and matted to her head, probably from when she screamed his name and got pistol whipped for the effort. She was sitting with both legs out in front of her but the right one was bent at an unnatural angle that made his stomach lurch. He knew that it was either broken or the knee is dislocated, possibly both. It's already so swollen that it looked like her jeans are cutting off the circulation, which would explain why she wasn't screaming in pain. Both her wrists and forearms are covered in half dried blood and he can see the open places where she had hung from the hand cuffs. In fact, they still hung from one delicate wrist, the blood caked metal glinting dully in the dim light. She wavered in her sitting position in the second he took to look her over and he knew she was fighting to stay conscious. Then his eyes caught sight of the dark, nearly black stain that enveloped the entire crotch of her jeans, spreading up her zipper.

Despite all that, he also saw the look of relief on her face when he stepped through the door and turned on the light.

She had been waiting for him.

Amber was alive, and Daryl tried to focus on that. His hunter instinct was barely hanging on, he could feel animalistic rage, hot and careless bubbling up. So he focused on the fact she was breathing, she was awake, at least for the moment. His biggest fear, that Daryl wouldn't even admit to himself the whole night, had been that he would find her body, too late to even save her life.

The man holding her didn't look like a biker, despite the black clothing. He looked like he belonged in an office in a bank or maybe one of those high rise buildings in Atlanta. Then his eyes met Daryl's, and he knew where he really belonged was a mental institution.

Or hell.

"Ah, mon cher, I believe your archer has joined us." He was crouching behind her, his back to the half wall. "My name is Philip Blake."

What the fuck? What did that psycho expect him to do, shake hands?

"Let'er go." Daryl commanded, trying to keep his voice even, instinctively choosing to treat the lunatic like a cornered animal.

"I cannot, I'm afraid. I need you to close that door behind you."

Amber shook her head once at Daryl and he saw Philip's arm tighten around her neck before he spoke in her ear. "No cheating on the exam, mon cher, or I'll go ahead and fail you both, yeah?" He pressed the gun harder into her temple. "Now shut the door, Daryl. It is Daryl, isn't it? It's you she so inelegantly bellowed for downstairs, yes?"

Daryl answered by kicking the door shut behind him, not dropping the bow or losing his sights on the man to do it. He took a step forward as the door shut, hoping Philip wouldn't notice with the other movement.

"Now latch it."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I blow her pretty head apart." Philip cocked the gun.

"Leave Daryl." Amber said, voice slurred.

He shook his head. "Not without you, girl."

This seem to amuse Philip, who chuckled. "How precious, cher. Self sacrifice and all that." He let the hand around her neck drift down to a breast and he slid his fingers under the neckline of her shirt to cup it. Amber winced around her bruised features and Daryl felt his brain, his sanity, begin to slide apart. He was going to have to do something, soon.

Philip grinned. "I said latch the door, Daryl."

Daryl reached behind him and fumbled the bar latch shut. No one could get to them in time to help now. If she died, it would be because he fucked up. "Now the bow. Drop it."

"No!" Amber said, almost mumbling because of the swelling in her face. Philip's arm tightened back around her neck, pulling her to sit up straight with her head tilted back. "Shut UP!" he hissed, his facade cracking.

Just then something collided with the door, rattling it on it's hinges behind Daryl. They all three jumped. It hit again.

"Dammit!" Merle cursed from the other side.

"Call them off! NOW!" Philip commanded, jerking Amber to stand upright with him, still behind her so there was no safe shot.

"Merle, NO!" Daryl yelled without turning.

"Bro?"

"NO GODDAMMIT! BACK THE FUCK OFF OR HE'LL SHOOT HER!"

"A'ight. I'm gone."

Silence descended on the rooftop again for a few moments.

"Now the bow." Philip said, having regained some of his fragile mood.

He hesitated, knowing without the bow he stood little chance. But if Philip pulled the trigger, there would be no chance, so he finally slid it down to the ground. Amber's face crumpled and she sobbed.

"Don't, girl, it's gonna be a'ight." Daryl said evenly, trying to keep her focused on him.

Philip shook his head. "There you people go with the hope again. It's sad really. All this little bitch could talk about was how you were going to kill me."

"I am."

Philip smirked. "With what, your bare hands against a gun? She shut up after I showed her how a real man treats a lady anyway."

Daryl just looked at him, he knew he was baiting him.

"I found that bite mark you left on her, she surprised me, I didn't see her as one to like pain, but to each their own. I think, tonight, I fulfilled her."

Amber lost her balance and stumbled against Philip for a second, causing him to take a step back against the half wall behind them, Daryl saw the mans upper thighs collide with the edge. He regained his balance and reseated the gun against her temple for a second before tightening the arm around her throat and pointing the gun at Daryl.

"You are starting to bore me." Philip said.

"Shame." Daryl responded, trying to buy time, to think of something, anything. Amber's head moved and Daryl looked from Philip to her face. She mouthed three words at him and his heart froze.

_I love you_

She was saying goodbye.

He suddenly realized what she was doing, that stumble on her one useable foot had been on purpose, to get Philip to the edge. Before Daryl could move, as his mouth moved to scream 'NO' at her Amber threw her weight back, hitting Philip in the chest with the back of her head, planting her foot below her and pushing back. He pulled the trigger and Daryl felt rather than heard the shot go wild just over his left shoulder. He started running but he was SO SLOW, EVERYTHING SEEMED SO FUCKING SLOW, everything except for the two on the edge of the roof. Philip teetered, fighting for his balance as his thighs collided with the concrete for the second time. For a millisecond Daryl thought he would stabilize but then he tipped back, his body dragging Amber back with him. Daryl was almost there, ALMOST FUCKING THERE when her foot picked up off the tar under it. Her hip hit the top of the wall and she rotated as she went over and he saw Philip's hands flailing, trying to find some purchase behind her. Then Daryl dove, arms straining outstretched as his boots skidded across the roof, his own lower body smacking against the wall. His left hand scrabbled for purchase on the ledge in front of him, for leverage, as his right reached for her arm, the one still wearing the handcuff as it waved in front of her chest as she fell back.

Then pressure, sweet blessed pressure as her arm filled his right hand and he gripped and pulled back. But something was wrong, she suddenly weighed too much, and Amber had never weighed hardly anything, he had picked her up one armed before, on the bike, off the stool at Jake's. But this jerked him nearly over the edge himself, his shoulders screaming with the strain. And then he looked down.

She had a snake around her ankle again.

Philip had somehow caught her good ankle on the way down, and now held on dangling. As Daryl looked down past them, he saw that on this side of the building there was a drop off, revealing a daylight basement. Instead of her feet swinging two stories above the concrete, a survivable drop, it was nearly four, which would surely kill her especially factoring in that she already had a head injury.

"NO!" he heard himself shriek, what else was there to say. No! HE REFUSED, for ONCE in his goddam life he wasn't going to watch something good slip through his fingers. He felt the concrete ledge in his left hand bite into the skin of his palm, and his boots threatened to lift off the sanded tar under them, to send them all three over. He braced his knees against the wall and looked down at Amber's face. Her eyes were half lidded, like she was already gone and that was WRONG, she should have been panicking, trying to kick the weight off her leg. Instead she just hung. Daryl could feel the tendons and muscles in his arms and shoulders try to separate as he fought with death itself in the dark of the wee hours of the morning.

_...his branches run over the wall.._.

He had to think of something, he had SECONDS to do something before they all went over, had to get that monster off her leg. His arms were killing him, he could feel his shoulder trying to dislocate...

_...and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob._

Just like before, in her bed...

Shoot him.

Daryl would have to let go of the ledge for a second to grab the gun from behind his back. He braced his knees against the wall again and pulled back, trying to give himself some leeway before he let go with his left to go for the gun.

He had just released his fingers from the ledge when he heard the gunshot and felt warm blood spray his arm. And then he was being pulled back, the load on his arm instantly going from too heavy to way too light.

**If you know my stories, then you know things are not always as they seem, so hang with me, okay? I promise, it's gonna be alright in the end! **


	39. Chapter 39

**I think I took all the feels I could find and crammed them into this chapter. It brings us from the moment the previous chapter ended up to five days later in what I think is an interesting way. It kinda came out a different way and I went with it.**

**I don't own "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry**

_If I die young, bury me in satin_

_Lay me down on a bed of roses_

_Sink me in a river at dawn_

_Send me away with the words_ _of a love song_

Daryl didn't even raise his head from the stiff hospital sheets when the song came on. He just reached over,with the arm that wasn't in a sling, and unplugged the radio that was on the nightstand by Amber's bed. She had always been about setting the mood with the right music, and that particular song wasn't welcome in her hospital room, as far as he was concerned.

It had been five days.

Five days since they had dangled over the edge of that roof. Five days since Merle had sprinted down three flights of stairs with his sniper rifle to try to get a clear head shot of Philip from below, only to run out and see the three of them hanging in mid-air. He had aimed for the son of a bitches head, but in the dark had hit him in the bicep. It was good enough, better actually.

Five days since Norm had ran to the door to the roof, just as Merle ran away, and popped the pins out of the hinges with his knife. Five days since he pushed the hingeless door in and ran across the roof to grab Amber's other arm, helping haul her back onto the roof as soon as the Le Mechant snake fell away. A second after Daryl hit his back on the roof, Norm had dumped Amber's body on top of his chest, the older man's body pushed to it's brink also. The familiar weight against him was easily the best thing he had felt in his life. Daryl had sat up, cradling her in his arms, expecting her to open her green and gold eyes and look up at him. But she didn't, she wouldn't wake up at all, and then he had noticed something about her breathing was all wrong. Daryl would have lost his shit again up there on that roof if Norm and Merle hadn't been up there with him as they waited what felt like forever for the ambulance. He had sat there, begging her, pleading with her not to leave him, that he had just found her, that she was a damn fool for doing what she did and she was SO DAMN BRAVE, braver and stronger than he would ever be, and that he would do ANYTHING if she would fight just a little more to stay with him.

Five days that Amber had a tube down her throat and a machine breathing for her. The doctor said it was a combination of the hits to the head and all the blood loss. She had already had three surgeries. The first had been within an hour of coming into the hospital that horrible morning, they had shaved a two inch square patch off the underside of her scalp to put in a tube to relieve the pressure on her brain. Afterward, the nurse had brought out the long lock of jet black out and asked if he wanted to keep it. Daryl had taken it and wound it around the four fingers of his right hand and then tucked the soft loop into an inner pocket of his vest. It would stay there until he either no longer was a Demon or was buried with it. Merle had joked that Amber was gonna be so pissed WHEN she woke up about her hair being cut that she was going to start kickin asses and takin names. Daryl had smirked, knowing it was Merle's way of showing he cared.

It had been during the first surgery wait that Debra noted that Daryl wasn't using his right arm, and when he tried he would wince in pain. He had brushed it off, his only concern being Amber. He only relented when Debra got Norm involved to make him walk down to the ER. Turned out, he had torn two muscles in his arm and shoulder while pulling Amber up with the extra weight attached. His arm would be in a sling for the next month, and it would be at least that long until he could ride the bike.

The second surgery had been later that day, when she was still bleeding from...what that bastard had done to her, inside. Over two dozen stitches. The doctor had come out and called Daryl her husband and no one, not himself, Debra, or the whole club that stood around them had batted an eyelash. Debra had been a wreck, between Leon's death, Barry being shot, and Amber that Barry had pulled strings from his hospital bed on the floor below Amber's room in the ICU. He had made sure that, unless it was some huge life and death issue, that Daryl would be Amber's go to person until he or Debbie could get things calmed down. The responsibility had shocked Daryl for about thirty seconds, until the doctor had come through those double doors wanting to know who he needed to talk to. Daryl had stood without even thinking, the whole club surrounding him in that waiting room. Of course, every day, several times a day when Debra walked from Barry's room to Amber's during ICU visiting hours, Daryl filled her in on every detail.

That had been just one of many strings Barry had to pull and favors he called in from his hospital bed after the massacre at the office building. He had made it clear that Daryl was exempt from the ICU visiting hours also. Barry had a private audience with a hospital exec who owed the club some favors, and he made it sound like Amber needed to be under guard. The nurses knew it was more than that though and almost all of them either were sympathetic or just ignored him as he spent all his time by her side, even sleeping in a chair by her bed. He only went home to shower, change clothes and then got back to the hospital as fast as he could.

The third Surgery had been the second day, on her leg. Her knee was obliterated, both the bones in her lower leg broken. They had replaced her knee with some prosthetic with a long ass name that Daryl couldn't ever remember and she had pins in the bones until they healed. The leg was propped up high on foam wedges, the pins sticking out of the bandages that the leg was wrapped in from hip to ankle. The doctor had been confident she would walk again, would just have to go through a long rehab period. Both her wrists had to have stitches, not all the way around, but in spots. The first couple days, Amber's legs would cramp horribly. The nurse noticed it when she was changing her sheets that Amber's uninjured left leg,the foot was locked in a tip toe position and the calf muscle was as hard as a rock. When ever it would happen from then on, Daryl would flip back the sheet to her knee and rub the muscle gently, pushing the ball of her foot back until her calf relaxed. He wasn't going to have Amber in any more pain than she had to be and if someone didn't like it, they could go fuck themselves, after what she had been through. He didn't know fully himself what had went on in that office until the third day. That was the day Kaye had been released and Norm wheeled her into Amber's glassed in ICU cubicle as Daryl sat on the end of her bed rubbing away a cramp. She told him about the cramps in the office and how the rings had been too high for Amber to stand normally.

Daryl asked then, for her to tell him everything that had happened between the time the men left to go to the double cross at the warehouse and when the women had been found six hours later. Kaye had asked him, sadly if he really wanted to know. Daryl had looked up the bed at Amber's swollen face for a second and answered that no, he didn't want to know, but he had to. They had went into a tiny empty ICU family waiting room for her to tell him, the doctor had told Daryl the first day that there was a good chance Amber could hear what was being said around her and he took that seriously. Kaye had told him everything, and he held on, refusing to break down there, even when she gave a glossed over version of the rape. Barry had been kind enough to pay contractors to replace the eight foot section of sheetrock wall Daryl destroyed in that little room after Kaye left.

The afternoon of the first day, Amber came out of the second surgery, and Daryl finally got a couple hours sleep in a chair at her bedside. When he woke around four, Debra was standing in Amber's room, saying that Barry needed to see him and she would stay with her daughter until Daryl got back. Barry had given Daryl big news when he sat down in his room.

Philip had survived the fall.

He had broken both legs but was conscious. He and Martinez were being held at the clubhouse. Barry stated that if Daryl wished, he could take part in Philip's death, as could Merle. Tyreese and Norm were going to be there to take care of Martinez that evening. Daryl agreed whole heartedly. Less than three hours before the doctor had told him about the repairs he had to make internally to Amber's broken body and Daryl was eager for retribution. He met Merle, Tyreese, and Norm at the clubhouse by five. The two full Demons led the prospects into the gun cabinet/war room and had them help move the metal table to the side, to reveal a trap door with stairs leading down to a surprisingly roomy cellar area. Martinez and Philip had been chained to the wall in the dim light. Martinez had enough sanity to beg but Philip was just as crazy as he had been on that rooftop that morning. Daryl pulled a cigarette out, stuck it in his mouth and then picked up a blow torch off a table of "tools" to light it. The blowtorch didn't leave his hand for the next two hours. Philip stopped screaming after the first hour, but Daryl didn't stop until he felt like he was finally done. When the brothers, Tyreese and Norm emerged out of that cellar around sundown, they were all so covered in blood and the smell of burning flesh that they drove straight home to shower and burn the clothes they had been wearing. Merle then drove out to Jake's where he ordered and ate the biggest barbecue platter they served, while watching Beth Greene sing every one of her sets. Daryl picked himself up a couple of burgers, which he ate in the truck, not willing to eat in front of Amber until she could. Then he went up to her room and sat next to her for the next hour, talking while holding her hand. He kept the conversation light, about the farm and things they were going to do when she got better. Then he pulled off his boots and moved his chair as close to the bed as it would go. He laid his head down next to hers and slept for the next eight hours, only waking briefly when the nurse entered the room every few hours. That night, both men had clearer consciences and slept heavier than they had in decades.

Daryl didn't cry until the second day. He went home to shower and change clothes while Amber's mother sat with her. Roxie and Silas had been at the hospital earlier that morning. When Daryl got home to the trailer there was a large box on the porch with a note attached. It said the box had been delivered to the big house earlier that afternoon. He checked the shipping label, and it said his name and the big houses address, the trailer on the pond didn't really have it's own address. He didn't recognize the name of the company. When Daryl opened the box he stared for a minute before picking up the packing list. The box was full of used paperbacks, old crummy mysteries like he dimly remembered telling Amber he liked to read the night they smoked pot down on the dock. The packing list was one of those gift ones that don't tell you how much money was spent, but it did have the date and time the order was made. It was right before ten p.m. the night she was taken. Amber must have ordered the books for him right before Martinez entered the clubhouse. At the bottom of the gift receipt there was a box where the you could leave a message for the person receiving the gift, it said "I remember. I love you too." Tears were suddenly running, hot down his cheeks to fall on the books as he bent over them and for once Daryl just let them go. He sobbed by himself, on that dark porch over that box of cheap books for over a half hour. Then Daryl got up, showered, changed clothes and went back to Amber, this time with an old paperback mystery shoved in his back pocket to read while he waited for her to wake. Daryl brought one with him every day from then on, switching out for the next random one whenever he finished.

Five days had passed since the massacre at the offices, and Amber was still 'asleep'.


	40. Chapter 40

_Genesis 1:31b ...So the evening and the morning were the sixth day._

Amber had two seizures in the five days after her injuries. One the first day, right after the surgery to release the pressure on her brain and another in the wee hours of the morning four days later. Daryl witnessed the second one, had woken up in his chair to her small body jarring the whole bed as her muscles fought against one another. It terrified him as he pressed his back against the wall across from her bed, giving the nurses who had suddenly appeared in her room the space to work. The seizure was so violent that they had shoved something in her mouth, around the breathing tube so she couldn't bite it or her tongue in half as her jaw locked. Another tried to stabilize her leg, keeping her from ripping the pins and drain out as her back arched so acutely that from the waist up, her torso didn't touch the bed at all from her hips to her head. Then an older one Daryl recognized as the night charge nurse ran in with a syringe, jamming it in to one of her IV lines and depressing the plunger. Within seconds Amber's body relaxed, and he slid down the wall to sit on his heels, not in relief but frustration. The doctor had told him and Debra that every time they used the sedatives it would make it that much harder for her to wake up. There was no choice when she seized, to let it continue long would guarantee brain damage but just seeing that medicine go in her veins was like yet another punch in the gut.

So when Daryl returned on the evening of the sixth day, hair still damp from his hurried shower, the first order of business was questioning the nurse that was fussing over Amber's bed.

"She behave her ass while I was gone?" He asked, tossing his book and vest onto the counter next to the sink.

"Yeah, I had to get onto her a time or two, but no problems." Leigh grinned while she fiddled with the breathing tube. Daryl knew that she knew what he meant. She had quickly become his favorite of all Amber's nurses. He guessed she was around Debra's age, Amber's height but a good bit heavier. She talked very 'country' and he immediately felt at ease around her, well, at ease as Daryl ever got anyway. But what had won him over was that she had invited him to participate in Amber's care as much as possible, not just tolerating his presence like some of the others. It had been Leigh who had discovered the cramps in Amber's legs.

"Hey, come here and help me out." She grunted, pulling on the draw sheet under Amber's body. All the tubes and wires were now looped over the far side of the bed that Leigh was tugging Amber over to. Daryl stepped over to stand next to her, leaning over to drop a kiss on Amber's cool cheek and murmur "Hey, pretty girl. M'back." before standing up to address the nurse.

"What're we doin'?"

"Need to move her whole body over toward this side rail about a foot. On three.." She moved to grasp a corner of the draw sheet but Daryl just motioned her away.

"I got her. Just get her bad leg."

Leigh rolled her eyes but moved to Amber's right leg. Daryl slipped his arm out of the sling and gave Leigh a warning look to not gripe about him using it. Then he rolled the shoulder for a second, grimacing only a bit before slipping one arm under Amber's neck and the other under her hips while Leigh supported her knee. They moved her smoothly over toward his side of the bed on three. He slipped his arm back in the sling gingerly while she used the sheet to expertly turn Amber toward them, facing the edge of the bed she was closest to. Daryl grabbed two pillows from the windowsill and gently placed them between Amber's bandaged and pinned right leg and the left one that now lay under it. He had helped do this part before, the nurses had begun turning her every two hours a couple days before to prevent her from getting a sore at the base of her spine.

"Shoulda had tha pilla's over here 'fore ya rolled'er." he grumbled, giving the nurse an annoyed look.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Dixon," Leigh shot back with a smirk, "I'll do better the next time, I promise." She grabbed a fresh pillow off the linen cart that was outside the door and placed it on the bed beside Amber's head.

"What'sat for?" Daryl asked, despite already knowing. He had figured out what Leigh was doing right around the time she rolled her.

"I'm tired of watching your ass sleep all folded up in that chair. You can't hardly stand up by morning."

Daryl's thumbnail found it's way into his mouth. It was the left, the right being held in the sling. He winced and put it back down on the bed. Just didn't feel the same, like his cigarettes now that he was back to lighting them himself.

"Uhuh, I ain't layin in the bed, don't wanna scare her." he muttered, glancing down at Amber, hoping that Leigh understood what he was trying to say.

She put her hand on his arm and jerked her head toward the door. "Step into my office."

He followed her out to the tiny charting station right outside the door.

"Daryl, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for HER."

"Whad'ya mean?"

"Look, I'm a big believer that skin to skin contact is a big help when someone is seriously ill or injured. Two of my sons were preemies, and I held them against my bare chest everyday until they got to come home. She can't see you, we don't know if she can hear you. She needs to know you're here, that she's safe now, that it's safe for her to come back."

Daryl ran his hand through his hair. "I don't want'er ta think I'm him..."

Leigh grabbed his arm. "Don't you dare! I've seen enough to know that what you two have isn't even on the same planet as what that monster did to her. Give Amber a little more credit than that. She knows how you feel laying next to her, what you smell like." Leigh took a long look at Amber through the glass before turning back to Daryl with a grim look. "I've been an ICU nurse for over twenty years. Trust me, the longer she's like this, the harder it'll be for her to come back. When it comes to ideas for getting her to wake up, this is the best I've got."

He looked over at the charge nurse on the other side of the unit. "Yer gonna get in trouble."

"Sorry, son, but I didn't get into nursing to win a popularity contest." she said wryly.

Daryl sighed and nodded. He knew it was the truth, he had seen her go toe to toe with her supervisor after the second seizure over reducing the dose of the sedatives. Leigh was concerned the standard dose they were keeping in Amber's med cart was too much, factoring in her small body size.

"A'ight."

"Good. You don't flop around or do anything stupid like jerk off in your sleep do you?"

"Fuck no!" he hissed, barely avoiding yelling in the quiet unit.

Leigh chuckled as she walked back into Amber's room and he realized she was joking, trying to get him to smile. He followed her back to the bed, hesitating a minute before toeing off his boots. It felt strange crawling into bed with Amber in a public place, with someone watching.

He carefully crawled in behind her, lying on his side next to her. Leigh stood on the other side of the bed checking the ventilator and IV meds. Daryl shoved the flat hospital pillow up under his head and laid his top arm down on his side.

Leigh looked down at him and rolled her eyes. "Touch her, you big dummy! Get close, or it won't work. You won't hurt her!" She reached over and untied the neck of Amber's hospital gown, pressing open the fabric to expose her back from neck to waist. Daryl tensed, he had only touched Amber's hand, face, and the cramping left calf and foot since she was hurt.

"Daryl," the nurse said, suddenly gentle "I know you're not going to do anything you shouldn't, okay? I'm going to pull the curtain down to the middle of the bed and dim the lights to keep any Nosy Nellies out. Now, I'm not telling you that you HAVE to take your shirt off, but it's going to work better that way. I'm only going to come in if her alarms go off, up until time for her midnight meds. Goodnight." She went to move Amber's hair out of his face and he carefully pushed her hand away.

"Leave it."

Leigh nodded and pulled the curtain and then they were alone, as much as they could be with her like she was. Daryl lay still for a minute, caught in indecision. Then he slowly sat up a little and reached behind his head, pulling his shirt over his head and crammed it under the pillow, keeping it close in case someone came in. He scooted closer to her and sighed when her back finally brushed again his skin. The feeling wasn't sexual, not even close. His thoughts over the past six days had been so far from that aspect of their relationship, that to just see her back had made him feel like he was doing something wrong for a second. But if this could bring her back, he'd do it gladly.

Daryl relaxed a little further into Amber, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing his face into her hair while being careful to keep his lower body away from hers, afraid to jostle her leg. Her skin was cool against his chest, like always, and the smell of cold clear water was there up under the hospital's industrial laundry detergent. He swallowed past the knot in his throat, closing his eyes. The feeling of her against him, her scent, was overwhelming. It felt like coming home, hell, for him she WAS home. Daryl willed himself to sleep despite his racing heart and suddenly constricted breathing.

_C'mon, girl, come back t'me. Please..._

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Her back was suddenly so warm, it must have been from the sun beating down on them out here on the dock. Daryl was close, she could smell him, the familiar leather, soap, and smoke. There he was, just to her right with his fishing pole in his hand, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and a beer by his side. She grinned, as far as Daryl Dixon was concerned, life didn't get any better than that.

"Catch anything?"

"Naw," he said taking the cigarette out of his mouth to flick the ashes away. "Not a thing. Ya alright?"

Amber wrinkled her brow, why did he ask that? "Well, yeah, I'm fine."

He laid his pole down and turned to face her fully, one knee almost brushing her leg. "I miss ya."

She nodded. "I miss you too." She didn't know why she said that, he was right there with her. But a part of Amber knew what she said was the truth, somehow.

Daryl considered her carefully and then ducked his head, looking down in his lap as he whispered. "Ya...comin back?"

Amber looked at him, the feeling that she had somewhere to be washing over her. But then her leg started to ache and it was hard to breathe.

"It'll hurt."

Daryl looked back up at her and nodded sadly. "Yeah, I 'spect it will."

"I'm tired of hurting." Amber was listening to herself talk, like she was a passive observer in her own head.

"I know, I'd take it if I could."

"Do I have to? I like it here. It feels...safe."

Daryl looked back down. "Cain't stay here much longer. Either ya go back or go on. And I cain't pick for ya."

"I don't want to hurt."

His clear blue eyes met hers. "Ya told me that a little pain made the good feel even better."

Amber chuckled, "I was talking about sex, silly. That doesn't apply with this."

"I think it does, but it's up ta you."

Amber laid back on the hot wood of the dock, and Daryl laid on his stomach, supported on his elbows beside her. She looked up at him and smiled, he always looked so good out here, relaxed like he almost never was. He smirked down at her but his eyes were sad. She had the feeling that he wanted her to do something, despite saying it was her decision to make.

"Remember, I came for ya, okay? It's just me, ya safe now, either way."

She nodded and felt tears stream down the side of her face. Her throat ached, she felt like she was choking and her leg hurt SO BAD and between her legs burned. Amber didn't want this, she wanted to stay with Daryl. But she couldn't stay anymore.

Go on or go back, it was time.

And then she was back in that office with the devil himself. Thank God Kaye wasn't here, she must have gotten out. Amber couldn't see Philip but he had to be here because her knee was hurting like it was being ripped apart from the inside out and between her legs was on fire. But the worst part was she couldn't breathe, like when he was on top of her, even though she didn't feel that horrible weight now. She tried to move, to crawl away even as her hands clawed at her throat and face. Then her knee shattered into a million white hot lights and she tried to scream and couldn't.

This wasn't the office.

This was hell.

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Daryl woke when the back of her head crashed into his forehead. He was confused for second, thinking they were back at the trailer.

"Aw fuck, girl! Why..."

Then he opened his eyes and realized where he was. The bed was shaking, Amber's body slamming into his own, her head jerking as her hands flailed.

Another seizure.

Daryl sat straight up, jerking his shirt over his head as the ventilator alarms started to scream.

"Leigh!" he yelled as he jumped off the bed. A split second later the nurse ran in the door, a syringe in her hand.

"I'm here!"

She ran over to the ventilator, hitting buttons. He could see other nurses making their way to Amber's cubicle. Why did it seem like they were always so fuckin SLOW when it came to her?

"Help me get her on her back!" Leigh ordered, laying the syringe on top of the vent. Daryl ripped off his sling, throwing it behind him, and took Amber's hip and shoulder as Leigh picked up her leg, avoiding the left one as it struck out randomly. They quickly rotated her onto her back.

Green and gold.

When Daryl rolled her on her back, he ended up almost nose to nose with Amber as she looked out, her eyes a silent scream of terror and panic.

"OH..." was all he got out, head jerking back in surprise. His whole body locked up in that ICU cubicle, even as he tried to say something, ANYTHING.

"Wake...AWAKE!" he finally got out, a second later, but it felt like hours. He jerked his head over at Leigh who was at Amber's jittering feet still, looking up with her own wide eyes. She ran back over to the machines.

"Pull her over in the middle of the bed!"

Daryl did, unable to take his eyes off Amber's. Awake. She was awake. It was the only thing he could think, blocking out the movement of her body or the fact that the room was quickly filling up as the alarms screeched.

"She's fighting the vent!"

He didn't know who Leigh was yelling at but the urgency in her voice snapped him back to his senses. Amber's hands were clawing at her throat and face, occasionally snagging the tubing for a second. Her body flailed as if she was trying to get away from something, her eyes moving around wildly. He knew what was wrong, the feeling sickening.

Amber thought she was still there, back at that building with that monster.

Daryl instinctively moved to comfort her, his hands gentle, but she flinched back and he froze looking back at Leigh.

"Help her, Daryl!" the nurse said, voice steady in the chaos. "Don't let her pull at the tube!" She saw his hesitation and snapped into action herself, turning from the machine to the patient. Amber flinched away from Leigh too, moving to the other side of the bed, towards Daryl. Her right leg moved, the pins banging into the rail. Amber's body bowed, every muscle straining as her mouth contorted around the tube in a silent scream. Her hands tangled in the tube where it lay across her chest, ready to pull.

"NO!"

Daryl had found his voice, his hands flashing out to wrap around Amber's as he leaned over her.

"Listen, girl! Look at me, Amber!" he commanded as he peeled her frantic hands away from the tube. Amber's eyes still didn't focus, looking through him rather than at him.

"What's going on?"

Daryl glanced over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the charge nurse who asked the question. It was the one he had taken to calling Charge Bitch in his head.

"She's awake, fighting the vent." Leigh answered.

Daryl gripped both of Amber's forearms as she fought at him. She bucked on the bed and flailed her head. He leaned over her, inches from her face.

"Baby girl, PLEASE! Yer safe! SAFE! I'm here! I'M HERE!"

For a second her eyes flashed over his face and he saw what he hoped was recognition, it even seemed that her struggles faltered under his hands. But then her right leg moved again, the pins hitting the railing and her body exploded in agony. Thankfully one of the younger nurses in the room stepped up and quickly jammed a pillow between her leg and the metal.

"Sedate her, Leigh." Charge Bitch said from the door.

"NO!" Daryl and Leigh barked in unison. He leaned over Amber again.

"Shhhhhh...girl, yer okay, baby, okay? Yer alright, yer safe. It's me, it's Daryl, ya gotta quit fightin'"

He had no idea what he was saying, he was grasping at anything that ran through his mind.

"S'alright, I came for ya, yer safe, I'm here, sweet girl.."

The recognition flashed again and he saw tears well up in her eyes, her struggles stilling against him. Amber's hands still moved but it changed, he could tell she was struggling against panic.

"Ya gotta let that machine breathe for ya, alright? Cain't fight it, cain't pull at it. Just relax." he struggled to keep the panic out of his own voice. Amber's hands turned in his and he loosened his grip a bit. One of hers moved to intertwine her fingers with his and the other fisted the front of his black tee. The screeching of the vent alarm stopped abruptly at the same moment the tears started streaming down her face.

Amber pulled at his shirt, pulling him toward her, grasping at his face as if she was trying to solidify the fact that he was real. The hand dwarfed in his own squeezed with a strength that would have shocked him had he registered it. But he was too intent on that beautiful green and gold, having to convince himself that she had come back to him.

"Shhhh...s'alright..." he dropped his forehead almost to hers and felt her bad leg shift an inch behind him. The hand in his tightened even more, the other pulling at his shirt.

"Leigh, she's hurtin! Do somethin!" he pleaded, eyes not leaving the vision in front of him.

She yelled to one of the nurses at the door, who then took off for the med cart.

"S'okay, they gonna give ya somethin...hold on...jus hold on...gotta quit movin, baby girl, a'ight? Ya understand?"

Amber nodded. It was the first time she had communicated with him since she tried to tell him goodbye on that rooftop. Daryl felt a tear slip down his own cheek and he did not give a fuck that he was crying in front of all those nurses. The pain medicine arrived and was injected into Amber's IV. Daryl leaned over that bed for the minutes that it took to take full effect, talking her through the agony, reminding her she was safe, she had to be still, to let the machine breathe for her, over and over.

Slowly, all the staff slipped out of the room, leaving Daryl and Leigh alone with her. He felt her body relax as the medication worked. At first he was afraid, questioning Leigh if it would knock Amber back out. But she said it would make her drowsy, nothing like the sedatives they had used for the seizures. Leigh pulled his chair up behind him since he wasn't willing to make Amber let him go. Daryl sat crammed up against the side of the bed, head propped next to hers. Finally, Amber let his shirt go to stroke his face, the other hand staying in his.

After fifteen minutes, Amber tapped the tube and jerked her thumb over her shoulder, trying to mouth something around the tube. Daryl's brow furrowed and he looked over the bed at Leigh.

"She wants the tube out." Years in the profession had honed the nurses silent communication skills.

"Can ya?"

"We'll have to get a doctor up here."

"How long?" He had waited six days for her to wake up, it was obvious Daryl had run the limit of his patience. Leigh left the room to call Amber's parents and see about removing the breathing tube.

It was eleven forty seven p.m. on the sixth day when Amber came back.


	41. Chapter 41

**Intense! Yay, she's awake! I hope the next few chapters of hospital and recovery don't bore folks. But we've had hot smut, and then action and badassery. Now we gotta deal with our feels and the repercussions of what has happened. I believe it adds a depth to Amber and Daryl's relationship. These two have been through a fast forward crash course in Relationship 101 in the last month.**

**Also, now that Amber is awake, I'm going to let you know that this fic will have a sequel named "Better Dig Two" (referencing another awesome song by The Band Perry). That being said, We're only about two thirds through "Country". Still got a ways to go. I love you guys, you have no idea how seeing your reviews pop up in my email makes me feel! I squeal like a little girl!**

"Now take a deep breath and blow out hard, I'll pull it on three..." the doctor instructed, leaning over her.

Daryl turned his head, the idea of seeing the plastic tube that had spent the last week buried deep in Amber's chest making his stomach turn a flip. It was almost three a.m. It had taken that long to get a doctor up there to take the thing out. Leigh had called Amber's parents to let them know she was awake and as soon as she hung up the phone at the nurses station his cell had rung from his vest pocket, where it lay next to the sink. It was Debra, she wouldn't be able to come up to the hospital until first thing in the morning, Barry had been released the day before and she couldn't leave him alone. But he had held the phone up to Amber's ear so she could hear her mama's voice and then he had two crying women to try to talk down. He had finally gotten them both reasonably okay before Debra hung up. Amber tried to mouth more words at him until Leigh had brought her a small white board off her desk with marker attached by a string. He held it up as Amber's hand wavered weakly with the marker. She only had to write a scraggly letter 'K' before he answered.

"She's fine, went home three days ago."

Amber traced her finger down her cheek.

"They sewed it up, she'll have scar, but she's FINE."

Then Amber eyed Daryl through teary eyes for a moment before going to write again, slowly. She wasn't but halfway finished with the letter 'P' before his free hand flashed out, wrapping gently over her bandaged wrist stopping her. He took a deep breath before speaking, knowing if he raised his voice it would scare her.

"Dead. He's DEAD. Made sure of it m'self. And Norm took care'a the other." Daryl's eyes glanced over at Leigh where she stood at the IV pump on the other side of the bed. What he had just said didn't match up anywhere near the story Tyreese had concocted for the Demon's to tell the cops while Barry was unconscious. He also knew a whole hell of a lot of Le Mechant bodies had just disappeared that morning before the first police cruiser pulled up. While he was up there on that roof willing Amber to keep breathing, every Demon in driving distance must have gotten an early morning wake up call.

Leigh just gave him a slow nod, the corner of her mouth turning up a bit.

_Good job._

Then Amber's hand touched the side of his face and he turned back to her. This time, he understood the words she mouthed at him.

_Thank you._

Thank you? For what? For getting there too late? For letting you get taken in the first place? He had failed her in almost every way possible. Amber was laying here in this bed, broken and bruised and she was FUCKIN THANKING HIM?

Daryl swallowed, forcing his emotions down, this wasn't the time. He leaned over whispering in Amber's ear. "Me n' Merle made sure it was slow, took our time. And that's the last we gonna talk about it for a long while, a'ight?"

Amber nodded and traced her hand over his sling.

"S'alright, just pulled a muscle." That wasn't entirely the truth but he didn't want Amber to worry, she had to concentrate on getting well.

She wrote again, taking longer this time.

ANYONE ELSE HURT?

Daryl drew in a long breath, he had to word this right so she wouldn't freak.

"Yer daddy's a'ight. He got shot."

Amber's eyes went wide but he laid his hand on her shoulder.

"Just a through and through in the shoulder, he's already gone home, like Kaye."

She relaxed a little then but he could still see tears in her eyes. Leigh left the room then and Amber waited until she was gone before picking the marker up again. The letters 'L' and 'E' and he stopped her again.

"He's dead, girl." Daryl said quietly, his thumbnail going to his mouth. Killing her torturer was one thing, but killing her brother was another. He was afraid she would hate him, despite Leon's treachery. Not to mention all the other men who had met their maker that night with one of his arrows in their heads. No way could a person like her love a murderer. Amber's hand slipped down over his heart and her eyebrow raised. She was asking if he was the one who did it. Daryl couldn't lie, not with her like this. He would just have to bear the consequences.

He looked down, "Yeah, me,Merle n'Norm."

Amber wrote for a long time before finally tilting the board back. Daryl took a second before looking up.

YOURE A GOOD MAN

YOU SAVED ME

And then at the bottom, scrunched up so she could fit it in.

I REMEMBER. I LOVE YOU TOO

Daryl's breath left his chest in a wheeze, the weight and fear of her turning away from him lifted. He brought his eyes to her and knew she was telling the truth, Amber still loved him.

He shook his head, "I ain't doin that rememberin shit no more." Daryl brought his face inches from hers, "I LOVE ya. I. LOVE. YOU. and I'm stone cold sober right now. I'll say it in fronta yore mama n' daddy, Merle, a goddamn stranger, I don't give a fuck, not no more."

Ambers hands went to his shoulders, pulling at him as her face contorted in silent sobs. He thought she was in pain again, offering to get Leigh but she shook her head franticly. Daryl stood and Amber pulled his upper body over hers as she slipped her arms over his shoulders, around his neck and pulled. He understood what she wanted then and he was careful, he was so FUCKIN CAREFUL as he slipped his free arm between her back and the bed, leaning in instead of pulling her up. It was awkward, between her breathing tube and his arm in the sling but dear god, it was perfect too. Daryl buried his head in her shoulder and Amber turned her head to press the side of her face against the top of his head.

"Nough talkin for now, 'kay?" he croaked against her neck and she nodded, worming her hand between them to pull the board out and let it fall on the floor unnoticed. They stayed like that for a long time, and he couldn't tell which one of them was shaking the most.

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As soon as the doctor pulled the tube and disposed of it (much to Daryl's relief), he had listened to Amber's lungs for a long time and checked her gag reflex. Leigh had sat her up almost straight up and then pressed a cup of ice chips and a plastic spoon into Daryl's hands.

"Here, ONE chip at a time for right now, her throat's going to be VERY sore for a while."

Then she and the doctor were gone, leaving Daryl and Amber alone for the moment. He went to sit in the chair by the bed but she waved a hand in his face and patted the bed next to her left leg.

"Naw, girl, don't wanna hurt ya."

Amber shook her head and tried to whisper the word 'please' but ended up just making a strangled noise before her face screwed up at the sensation. She looked so pitiful that he relented, lowering the rail on the side of her good leg and sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed next to her thigh. He turned and brought his knee up next to her hip so they could face one another. She put her hands out for the cup but he shook his head and started digging out a single piece of ice.

"Nah, I got it."

The spoon shook as Daryl brought it to her mouth. He was a little shocked at it, the intimacy of feeding another person. He had never had to do it before. Amber's eyes closed as she sucked on the ice, in total bliss as she let it run down her raw throat. She immediately opened her mouth for another and this time the spoon didn't shake as much.

Daryl watched her face as she ate the ice chips. The swelling on the right side had diminished greatly since the beating, but her lip and eye were still a little puffy. The worst part was the color, the bruises had started to fade and now that entire half of her face was a grotesque mix of purple, green, and yellow. He didn't have to imagine how it felt, he knew from his own youth. Her lips, besides being half swollen were split on bottom just inside the corner and the rest was chapped to the point of cracking due to the breathing tube. The tape they had to use to affix it to her face had left a red whelp to the left of her mouth. Her teeth hadn't been properly brushed in a week nor had her hair been washed.

Daryl had trouble breathing she was so beautiful.

Amber greedily ate several more pieces of ice and then relaxed against her pillow, taking Daryl's hand after he put the cup on the table. She looked down at her body and swallowed hard before trying to speak again.

"Tell...tell me...what they..." her voice was rasping to the point of being nonexistent and she finally just swept her arm down her torso and out toward her feet, frustrated.

Daryl nodded nervously, where could he start, my god she had been broken to bits. Some of the stuff he wasn't sure he would be able to tell her. He decided to start with the obvious.

He turned a bit and jerked his head at the pins in her leg. "Ya got a new knee."

Amber's eyes widened. "Prosthetic?" she whispered, seeming shocked.

"Yeah, said yours was...too banged up." He wasn't going to be able to do this, to detail everything she had done, had been through. But then he had the thought, Amber had BEEN through it, and now he was gonna be too much of a pussy to TALK about it?

"Had ta pin both bones together in your leg."

She swallowed again and he saw a look of abject fear come over her. "W...walk agai..."

"YES!" he cut her off, unable to let her think anything else. "yes, girl. They said ya gonna walk again, just gotta let it heal and do yer therapy."

Amber nodded with obvious relief and made a motion toward her knee. "So...iron...man?"

Daryl looked at her for a moment in confusion, then saw the corner of her mouth twitch up. She was joking. Amber was broken up, laying in this bed and joking, trying to get him to smile. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Nah, yer too classy for iron. Your knee is titanium."

Amber smiled then and his heart felt like it burst in his chest. She made a 'get on with it' motion after several seconds and Daryl realized he had been staring.

"Ya had swellin on yer brain. They had to put in a drain." Amber's hand went to her head and Daryl caught it, bringing it back down in his own.

"No, don't touch it. They only cut a place the size of a quarter. Ya cain't even tell it with ya hair down."

He looked down, trying to think of what else to tell her, besides the obvious that he was trying to avoid.

"They had ta stitch some on yer wrists." Amber nodded, looking down at the bandages. She brought her eyes back up to his and he knew she was waiting.

"And...and..." Daryl faltered and Amber brought both her hands to cover his. He felt like such a pussy, she was the one hurt and she was comforting him.

"S'okay...let Leigh...tell me..." she rasped out and he looked up.

"Ya sure? Now?"

Amber nodded and he rose, sticking his head out the door. Leigh was just outside, working at her computer and looked up.

"Y'all alright?"

"Yeah, um...she wanted ta know...ya know the surgeries? I told'er about her leg and her head but..." He shifted from foot to foot, not knowing how to go on. It wasn't that he didn't know the details. After the last week he now knew more than wanted about the female anatomy, but to tell Amber exactly what had been done to her, it terrified him.

Leigh sighed and got up. "It's alright, honey, c'mon." She patted him on the arm as she passed into the room. He followed her and she pulled up a chair to the bed. Amber looked up at him, giving him a weak smile.

"It's alright...go s...smoke...while..."

Damn, if a smoke didn't sound fuckin great right about then. He looked at Leigh and she raised her eyebrow at him, glancing at the spot where he had been sitting on the bed.

_Sit your ass down._

Daryl shook his head as he took his spot by Amber's side, taking her hand again.

"Naw, don't wanna cigarette right now."

"Okay, honey," Leigh began "so Daryl went over your leg and everything so let's cover the other. You had two big vaginal tears, totaling twenty seven stitches. There was severe cervical bruising which will go away over the next couple of weeks. You stopped bleeding yesterday but you may spot until the stitches are completely absorbed in about a month. Besides your regular period of course. Daryl told us you are religious about taking your birth control pills, and we continued the equivalent while you were out."

Two tears slipped down Amber's cheek and Leigh reached over to grab a tissue and hand her one. Daryl squeezed her hand, not having a clue what else to do. He finally turned so that he was sitting the same direction as Amber with his back beside hers on the bed and put his arm around her shoulder, grasping her hand in his that was in the sling. He would have given anything to know the right words, to know what a man who had a damn clue about what he was doing would say. Amber was finally the one that broke the silence.

"What about...when I want...a baby..."

Leigh gave her a small smile. "As far as the doctor could tell, you will be just as fertile once you fully heal as you were before."

Amber burst into tears then and Daryl tilted her head into his shoulder, kissing her temple. Honestly, he hadn't been paying attention when the doctor had mentioned that part, he had just been concerned with her living. He had no idea that would have been such a concern.

She cried for a few moments before quickly wiping her eyes and sitting up. He could tell she was tired though, still weak. Leigh must have too.

"Hey, why don't you two get some sleep. I'm sure your going to have some people that want to see you in a few hours." She rose and patted Amber's good knee.

"Leigh..." Amber began and the nurse turned back to her. "Can he lay with me...please..."

Daryl shook his head. "Naw, girl, I'm alright..."

"Yes, he absolutely can." Leigh gave him a pointed look. "Here, I'll get him to help me move you over." Daryl got the point and helped slide Amber to the side of the bed. She requested the opposite one from where she had been laying so she could face him. He and Leigh were as careful as they could when they slid her over but she still paled at the pain in her knee, sweat popping out on her brow. The nurse quickly retrieved another dose of pain meds, which it was time for anyway and Daryl held Amber's hand and talked to her like before until she was comfortable enough to be rolled. He tried to talk her out of the sleeping arrangements again but Amber refused and Leigh gave him another one of her looks. Amber tolerated being rolled better than the slide over since the narcotics were coursing through her system. Her eyelids were drooping by the time Leigh drew the curtain and dimmed the overhead light. He crawled into the bed as carefully as he could, laying on his side to face her. They still had about six inches between them and he saw Amber looking at the space, tears welling up as her chin quivered.

"Hey, girl," He brought his hand up to her face. "Whas wrong? Ya hurtin bad again?"

Amber shook her head and wiped her face on the back of her hand. "Just tired. I'm okay." She closed her eyes but he could tell from the way she was breathing that she was still on the verge of sobs.

"Naw, now, what is it? Tell me and I'll do somethin."

She finally broke down, body wracked as she wept. Her hands covered her face as she keened. The sound was so horrible, making Daryl's chest feel heavy.

"Oh god, girl, no baby, what is it? C'mon..." Daryl rubbed her arm, at a total loss, where was Leigh now, he couldn't figure this shit out.

"It's not your fault," she sobbed.

"WHAT? What isn't my fault?"

"That you don't want to...lay with me...touch me..." Amber was crying so hard now that she was shaking, her breath jerking out of her chest.

Oh god, what had he done?

Daryl slid over to Amber's side of the bed before the last word even left her mouth. He wrapped his arm around back and pulled her into his chest hard, lower body still careful not to touch hers.

"NO, girl! Don't think that, baby girl. Aw fuck, I'm so damn SORRY! I jus didn't want ya ta be scared, that's all I swear!"

She cried into his chest for the next few minutes, arms going to the hem of his shirt, seeking his skin. He finally sat up, throwing off his sling and jerked the shirt over his head, tucking it under his pillow like before. Amber settled down a little, ear over his heart as he stroked her hair, her hands balled up on either side of her head, like she wanted to disappear into him. Daryl thought she had finally went to sleep but then her voice drifted up to him, quiet and lonely.

"I'm not afraid of you, I can't. I'm...so scared...waking up by myself...being there again..." her voice broke and he tightened up his grip on her as she trembled against him. It was a long time until her body stilled and breathing got even and deep on his chest. Daryl held her tightly as he dared, whispering over and over in her hair that he was there, that he wasn't going anywhere. Amber had so far to go, he just wished he knew how to help her get there.


	42. Chapter 42

**This chapter is short, but I usually don't update on Sundays so I guess a little bit of 'Country' is better than none. I love you all. Please keep the reviews coming, I love them all but the ones that tell me WHAT you like (or don't) really help me develop my skill and this story. Muah!**

Amber woke up screaming and clawing at his chest. Daryl was expecting it this time, after what she had said the night before. As soon as her movement and noise started dragging him from his slumber, he was moving. One hand went to the back of her neck, pulling Amber's forehead to his and the other to her thigh to brace her bad leg, preventing her from banging it around.

"S'alright, girl! Yer safe, I'm here! Ya ain't there no more, yer here w'me!"

"What the HELL is going on? Get off of her!"

Daryl's head swiveled around at the unfamiliar male voice. It was a nurse he had seen around the unit, striding into the room with Leigh grabbing for his arm.

"Stop! It's not what it looks like!" she begged.

Aw, hell, it was shift change and this probably did look bad. All the personnel in the unit knew what had happened to Amber and here he was towering over her, almost yelling, with one hand pulling her face to his and the other on her thigh. Fuck! He'd forgot his shirt was off too. Between the sexual implications and his scars, Daryl knew he looked like a monster as he knelt over her on that bed.

Daryl didn't get to think about it for long. Amber brought her good knee up and he narrowly missed getting his nuts shoved up in his throat. He brought his head back to hers.

"STOP it, Amber! Yer here, with me. Y'ain't there no more. It's alright, yer safe,baby! Ya gotta quit this shit, gonna hurt ya self worse!"

And then she was back, her eyes finally looking at his face instead of being a half hour across town in that hellhole. Her hand slid up from his chest, touching his jaw lightly as if proving he was real.

"oh god...Daryl...I'm sorry..."

He cradled her to his chest, Amber's tears spilling hot over his skin as he glared at the day shift nurse over her head. The guy was a foot from the bed, Leigh still grasping his arm. If Amber hadn't came back when she did, Daryl probably would have gotten punched, at the least shoved off of her. And then he would have had to beat the motherfucker into the floor, scrubs and all.

"Come on, Chris, let's go finish report..." Leigh said, tugging on his arm. He jerked it away.

"I need to make sure my patient's okay." he said defiantly as he took a step toward the bed.

Daryl tensed. "Leigh, I thought she was just 'sposed ta have women taken care a her." He had been told it was hospital protocol that women that had been through what Amber had didn't get male nurses.

"We're short handed," she said apologetically, "She's getting moved to the regular floor in an hour and I was going to check everything on her before I left, so he wouldn't even have to come in here until time for her to move."

Daryl had been so busy listening to Leigh that he didn't notice Chris had reached out to Amber. The second she felt his strange touch on her shoulder she shrieked and practically climbed Daryl's chest, trying to get away from the perceived threat. Daryl's hand came up and grabbed Chris' wrist like a vice and twisted as he pushed him away. The nurse ended up nearly on his knees, arm pinned to the bedrail. The action caused Daryl's shoulder to flare up painfully, pissing him off more. He growled as he tried to calm Amber with his other arm.

"DO NOT fuckin touch her AGAIN, goddammit!"

He released him, his arm moving back to Amber to stroke her hair as he murmured in her ear.

"S'alright, baby girl, ain't gonna let nobody hurt ya."

"I'm calling security!" Chris declared as he stood back up, rubbing his arm.

"Go the fuck ahead!" Daryl spat back, "An' I'll call ever Demon in the state down on yer ass!"

He had the brief thought that if the prick wasn't familiar with the club, he really would think Daryl was crazy now.

Leigh dragged Chris out of the room to argue heatedly outside.

"I TOLD you she was fine." she hissed.

"She's a damn RAPE patient, Leigh! And you let her boyfriend crawl all over her."

"They're not all the same! She wanted him in bed with her, to calm her when she woke up! You're the one that grabbed her!"

"And he nearly broke my arm!"

"You should have left her alone!"

Chris looked over at Daryl as he huddled around Amber's trembling form and shut the cubicle door, blocking him from hearing the rest of their conversation. Daryl just went back to soothing Amber as best he could, wishing like hell they would hurry up and move her to a regular room before he made the nurse a greasy spot on the floor.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Kaye woke up from her own nightmare at six thirty seven that morning, gasping as her hand went to her face. It took her a second to realize that the arm flung over her waist from behind was tattooed, the hand calloused as it rested on her stomach, and not the dark and sweaty flesh of Martinez. She had the distinct feeling her bladder was going to burst if she didn't get up so she slipped out from Norm's sleepy weight and padded to the bathroom.

She relieved herself, washed her hands, and then stood in front of the mirror, pondering the swath of white over the side of her face. She hadn't seen the wound that lay under it yet. The nurses had kept her away from mirrors in the hospital, saying she needed to wait until she saw the plastic surgeon to discuss the revision surgery he might have to do. She knew Norm had seen it though, he was in the room when they did the dressing changes. Kaye had asked him what it was like, and he said it wasn't bad, looking better every time they changed the bandage. There was something in his eyes that told her he was lying, though. She brought her hand up tracing over the tape that held the gauze to her face. The appointment wasn't but a little over three hours away, surely it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and look. If she was going to break down, it needed to be here, where she was alone in her own home. It didn't need to be in public, around strangers with Norm forced to comfort her.

Kaye was focused on pulling at the tape, still indecisive of her actions when Norm's hand enveloped hers, gently pulling her fingers away. His other arm circled her waist as his bare broad chest pressed against her back through the camisole she had worn to bed.

"No, baby." he said gently, lips pressed against her ear. "Ya gotta wait."

"No. I want to do it here." she whimpered, willing the tears away. Kaye was so damn tired of crying.

"Your phone went off after ya got up. Good news."

Kaye's eyes met his in the mirror. "Amber?"

He nodded with a grin. "Woke up right 'fore midnight."

Kaye sagged against him. "Oh my god...how is she?"

"Had a hard time when she woke up. Scared, didn't know where she was, but Debbie said Daryl got her through it. Doc took her off the machine at three."

"Daryl's a good boy."

Norm chuckled. "He's in his thirties, babe."

"And you're about to turn fifty. I turned forty over six months ago. He's a boy. He's good for her."

"How ya figure?" Norm was trying to distract her from her face and she knew it. But it felt so good to be home, with him that she let it ride for the moment.

"You see how he looks at Amber, like she's gonna break or disappear, even before all this. He can't believe he has someone like her."

"Remind ya of somebody?"

Kaye smiled but then winced, the action pulling at her stitches. She couldn't even be happy without being reminded. "Yeah, a boy that came to work for my daddy over twenty years ago. Real good looking, foul mouthed though."

"There ya go with that boy shit. And I wasn't fuckin foul mouthed, dammit." He smirked at her in the mirror.

"Very funny. You were a couple years younger than Daryl. A boy compared to now."

"Ya sayin I'm old?"

Her fingers reached up and brushed through the grey that was peeking through Norm's scruff. "Distinguished, a man. Not old. I'm old."

Kaye heard him take in a sharp breath, his chest muscles rippling across her back and she knew he was upset now. "Don't start that shit. Yer beautiful."

"And you're blind. I never was pretty, and not now especially." She knew she was having a pity party, but better here than at the doctors office.

"Ya sayin' Ella's not pretty? Cause she looks just like you did back then." Bringing up their daughter was a low blow, but Kaye knew she deserved it.

"Ella's beautiful."

"Exactly. Jus like'er mama. And if she don't get rid a them fuckin short shorts of hers I'm gonna end up puttin a bullet in some boys ass."

Kaye smirked then, a memory ascending through the years. "Like daddy did you when he found us out in the back seat of that Charger, behind the shop?"

Norm winced. "Yeah, don't remind me. I still got the scar, remember? 'sides, he got me too late. If I 'member right, I had popped your cherry three days before."

Kaye patted the arm that was around her waist, and then traced her own name that was written there in permanent ink. "Your mouth is still foul. Now let's go back to bed."

"Sounds good."

They had been laying there, Norm's warmth against her back, the arm bearing her name back at his favorite spot around her waist for almost ten minutes when she spoke.

"Can we run by the hospital after my appointment? I want to see baby girl and it would be good if you talked to Daryl."

"Yeah, reckon we need to." his voice was heavy, he had almost been asleep. "Guess now comes the hard part for'em."

Kaye nodded and Norm moved his head, going to drop a kiss on her neck, like he had a million times in the last two decades. He stopped right before he made contact and Kaye could almost feel him kicking himself.

"It's okay. I'm not as bad as last time." she whispered.

"Ya sure?"

"Kiss me and shut up."

His lips brushed against her skin and her eyelid jerked but that was it, not really a real flinch. It had taken her months to get to that point the last time, but six hours was a world away from a week. Maybe not though, because Amber was going to have to fight her way out of hell too, and Kaye almost cried again for her.

Instead she watched the thin morning light sweep it's way across the bedroom floor as the clock ticked toward time get ready for her appointment with the ugly reality.


	43. Chapter 43

**Amber/Daryl FEELS, then some Bromance FEELS, FEELS FOR EVERYONE! Review me and tell me how you like your feels! I love giving Daryl a family and freaking him out**!

Amber had been moved to a regular room shortly after the incident with Chris in the unit. Leigh volunteered to stay over until Amber moved and Daryl had been grateful not to have to bloody his knuckles at such an early hour. She and another nurse (female) had pushed Amber's bed to the new room since she wasn't able to ride in a wheelchair. Daryl walked behind them carrying her extra pillows and the bag of stuff she had accumulated while in the unit. When they had gotten there, the floor nurse had asked Daryl to leave the room while they transferred Amber to the new bed. He opened his mouth to tell her where to go, that he would move her over, but Leigh had put her hand on his arm, shaking her head while Amber told him it was alright, citing his shoulder injury. He scowled but walked out the door, making sure Amber knew he would be just outside.

It was quiet for a few seconds and he sagged against the wall next to her door until he heard her cry out sharply when they moved her. His whole body tensed and his hands balled up into fists, nails biting into his palms, stopping himself from going in and raising hell. Amber was going to hurt, a lot, for a while and there was going to be nothing he could do to stop it. He would give anything to know what it was he COULD do though.

Debra walked up then, a huge bouquet of pink roses in her hands. She frowned when she saw Daryl outside the door.

"What's wrong? Why are you out here?" she asked, suddenly worried.

He shook his head. "Nothin'. Just movin her to the new bed. New nurse kicked me out."

Debra pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'll call Barry, have him make some c..."

"No, s'alright. He's done enough. He needs t'rest too."

Debra opened her mouth to protest but stopped when Leigh poked her head out. "You can come back in now.

Daryl filed back in as soon as they pushed the old bed out, Debra right behind him. Amber was covered in a fine sheen of sweat now, her color two shades lighter. She still smiled broadly when her mother came into view.

"Mama!" she almost yelled, not having seen Debra since she was pulled out of the clubhouse a week before.

"Oh baby girl!" Debra sobbed, shoving the flowers into Daryl hands as she made her way to her daughter, throwing her arms around her. He put the roses on the windowsill for the moment and sunk down into the chair in the corner. That chair was a lot more comfortable than the one in the unit, and he felt exhaustion suddenly make itself known. He watched the women's tearful reunion with heavy eyelids, not even noticing when he drifted off, head propped on the back of the chair.

He startled awake when the door closed behind Debra as she left. Amber lay back against her pillow, the head of the bed raised in a half sit, watching him with a small smile.

"Shit, girl, why'd ya let me go t'sleep?" Daryl asked, yawning as he ran a hand over his face.

"Because you're tired. Mama was here."

"M'alright. How long I been out?"

Amber looked at the clock on the wall. "Little over an hour."

"Fuck."

Her smile widened. "You got a date or something?"

Daryl smirked, this was the closest they had come to their normal banter since she woke from the coma. "Got a girl ta keep m'eye on."

"Yeah, mama told me how you stayed with me the whole time."

Daryl shrugged, looking down at the floor, not knowing how to respond. He was saved when the nurse knocked and immediately entered, carrying a tray.

"Miss Amber, the doctor approved you for a clear liquid diet, so you get some actual food now."

Amber perked up immediately, not having eaten since their brunch at IHOP that day forever ago. She had been fed intravenously but that didn't help, having told Daryl and Leigh she was starving in the unit right before she was moved. The nurse uncovered the tray, revealing a bowl of lime jello, a popsicle and a small container of apple juice. As far as Daryl was concerned it was a shitty first meal, but Amber was looking at it like it was steak and lobster. The nurse left after warning her to go slow, her diet would be advanced as she tolerated so making herself sick would just work against her. Daryl moved to the side of the bed, stretching before reaching for her spoon but Amber grabbed it first and shooed him off.

"I can do it now. Just go back and finish your nap."

"I'll sleep when you do." He sat on the side of the bed next to her good leg, facing her. Amber frowned at him for a second before popping a piece of jello in her mouth. The look on her face could only be described as bliss until she swallowed, grimacing. Daryl grabbed the popsicle, opening it.

"Here, ya shoulda done this first, gonna melt anyway."

Amber took it, smiling softly. She worked on the popsicle for a little bit, finishing it off after a few minutes.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes sir. You have a brilliant career ahead of you in nursing."

"Pffft." Daryl scoffed "Don't think so." He moved to open her juice. "Now finish eatin."

Amber motioned toward the flowers across the room and Daryl brought them over to her nightstand. She admired them while she ate, occasionally reaching over the run her fingertips over the petals. He had the thought that he didn't know what her favorite flowers were, wasn't he supposed to know shit like that?

"Those the ones ya like best?" he asked quietly, from around his thumbnail.

"I love the color," Amber said as he rolled his eyes and smirked, "but I'm not real big on formal looking stuff. I like natural, old things."

He nodded, that made sense, it was her. It wasn't lost on Daryl that it was him too. He had just set the empty tray over to the side when there was a quiet knock on the door just before it was cautiously pushed open.

"Can we come in?" Kaye asked quietly after poking her head in.

Daryl didn't have time to answer before Amber beat him to it. She couldn't see the door from her bed but she had heard the familiar voice.

"Kaye! Yes!" Amber exclaimed, already tearing up. The older woman walked in, carrying a pink tote bag that looked full to bursting. Daryl noted that her eyes were puffy and red, like she had recently cried hard. Norm followed her in, giving Daryl a nod as he stood beside him at the foot of Amber's bed. Neither were the shaking hands type. How were you supposed to greet someone you had killed people with, anyway?

Amber and Kaye just held each other for a long time crying. The men looked on, Daryl noting how Norm didn't advance closer to Amber than the foot of her bed. He envied the older man's ability to just know the right thing to do. But then he remembered that he had done this before, been in the same spot Daryl was now.

The women finally composed themselves enough to talk.

"Oh, baby girl, you look so good with those eyes open!"

"Yeah, right. I'm gross. I would give anything for a bath."

"Uhuh," Daryl interrupted, "Nurse done told ya, wash offs in bed only for now. And ya look fine."

Both women gave him a scowl and he heard Norm chuckle at his side.

"I had a feeling you would say that,baby girl, so we got you this instead of flowers." Kaye pulled the tote bag from where she sat it on the bedside table, plopping it on the bed at Amber's side. She squealed when she opened it, it was full of body washes, lotions, hair bands, and other women shit that Daryl couldn't identify. Everything was Amber's favorite color too and she was ecstatic. She bounced a bit in excitement and then winced, her smile falling off her face. Daryl felt anger for the first time since early that morning. The movement had hurt her, not her leg but where that bastard had ripped her apart.

_She cain't even be happy about a fuckin gift with bein reminded._

He felt Norm's hand on his shoulder as Kaye's hand grabbed Amber's. The older woman continued on, pointedly glossing over the tense moment. "I thought between me, you, and the nurse we could work out a bed bath while the men are gone."

Amber looked up, eyes welling up as her fingers of her free hand went to her mouth. "Oh, Kaye, I couldn't ask you..."

"You didn't", she interrupted, " come on, it'll be fun." She dug in the bag, coming up with a bottle of nail polish that was a color Daryl would only describe with his usual 'fuckin pink'. She waved the bottle in front of Amber's eyes. "I'll even paint your nails."

"I ain't goin nowhere." Daryl stated firmly. "I can stand out in the hall while ya do all that."

Norm's hand tightened on his shoulder as he spoke to Amber. "Can I borrow your guard dog here for a couple hours?"

Amber looked between the three of them and Daryl saw the hesitation in her eyes. "He'll be back by bedtime?" Daryl saw the shame she had as she asked that too, that she was afraid.

"Before supper, before dark, I promise on my bike."

She nodded, a small smile on her face. "Good, he needs to get out."

Daryl started to argue but stopped short. Norm and Kaye had obviously planned this in advance and they knew a whole hell of a lot more about this than he did. He hated, FUCKIN HATED, to leave her, but to get out of that hospital for a while sounded wonderful. And Kaye had been through the same thing Amber had so she knew how to handle it, how to say shit he didn't.

"A'ight, fine. But I'll be back by supper, I promise."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Norm hadn't broached the subject of Amber on the way to the restaurant, just telling Daryl they were going to eat. They then rode in Kaye's suburban, both smoking in the quiet. Daryl liked that about Norm, that he was quiet like him. Merle might be his brother, but he never shut the hell up. Amber talked a lot too but that was different, he liked listening to her, and she knew when and how to stop talking when she needed to.

They ended up at the local Mexican restaurant, this was a small town so there wasn't much choice. Jake's wasn't open until five and the Waffle House didn't serve beer, which Daryl really felt he could use. They ordered their drinks, with the waitress giving them an odd look. It was probably because they both ordered bottles of Budweiser at eleven thirty a.m. but they just looked back at her.

Norm took his first drink and then asked, "So how is she, really?"

Daryl thought for a minute. "Her body, or tha other?"

"Other."

"Wakes up screamin', thinkin' she's back there. Only thing that can bring her back is me tellin her she's safe, that I came for her. Still takes'er a minute ta know who I am."

Norm nodded. "Kaye said that's what kept her going, that you were coming for her."

Daryl scoffed bitterly. "Only I got there too late."

"She's alive because of you."

"She's all broke up, her body and in her head, 'cause a me."

"Why, because you ain't a psychic? Ain't Superman? Welcome to the fuckin club."

Daryl fiddled with the label on his beer. "I don't even know what ta do NOW. Don't know how ta make her better."

"Ya can't. You can help her do it, but the big part's up to her."

The waitress brought their food and they ate for a while without talking.

"So how do I help'er?" Daryl finally asked, wiping his mouth.

Norm thought for a moment as he chewed."Love her. I mean" he hesitated, "you did love her, before all this?"

Daryl envied the way the word fell so easily from Norm's mouth. "Fuck yeah, I did. I DO." he could feel the red creeping up his cheeks and mentally cursed it. "But that's just it, I didn't know what the hell I was doin THEN, just followed her lead and tried m'best ta fix it when I fucked up. And now, I CAN'T fuck up, it's too important."

Norm shook his head. "Wrong. Your gonna fuck up, always. I been with Kaye over twenty years, and I still do, even when it's important."

"But you know what you're doin..."

"Didn't ten years ago. Didn't have a damn clue. And somehow we made it."

"Whad'ya do?"

"Loved'er. Everytime somethin happened, kinda felt it out. What worked for Kaye won't necessarily work for baby girl. Your doing good just getting her through the screaming thing right now."

"But she hurts all the damn time. She's afraid, another man can't touch her, even get close, without her freakin out, and that makes me wanna kick their ass. It's like she's okay one minute, and then somethin happens and it reminds her."

"She'll hurt for a while. The other stuff'll be around longer, get better gradually. If you get stuck, my number was in your cell when Barry gave it to you. Call me, text me if you don't want her to hear. Can't guarantee I can help with everything, but me and Kaye'll do our best."

Daryl nodded his thanks, visibly relieved.

"How are YOU?" Norm asked before taking another bite.

"Fine."

"Bullshit."

"I said I'm fine." Daryl motioned the waitress for another beer, glad he wasn't driving.

"And I said bullshit, which is what you look like too. Ya ain't been eatin or sleepin have you?"

Daryl shrugged. "Eat in the truck on the way back after I run home to shower. Sleep when she sleeps now that she's off the machine and awake."

"So you eat one time a day, drive thru crap, and sleep a couple hours at a time between her wakin up screamin. Sounds good to me..." his sarcasm was evident.

"What else am I 'sposed ta do? Ya saw how she was when she thought I was leavin', don't wanna leave'r anyhow."

"She's starting to eat now, go your ass down to the cafeteria and get something. Take a nap in her room during the day. You're not a damn idiot! Call Kaye, Debbie, whoever and have'em sit with'er while you go out during the day like this. Just do something, because being hungry and tired makes you say shit you don't mean, screw up more."

Daryl sighed and then nodded. Norm was right. The waitress brought their bill and Norm grabbed it before Daryl could get it and figure up his part. He wouldn't let him argue about it either. When she left to get his change he pulled a fat envelope from a pocket inside his vest and put it on the table in front of Daryl.

"Here, before I forget and Barry chews my ass."

Daryl picked it up, opened it, and nearly dropped it in shock. He had never seen that many twenty and hundred dollar bills in one place before, even when he and Merle were running moonshine.

"WHAT the fuck is this? Whose is it?"

"Yours. And Amber's."

"The hell it is. I cain't take it! I've got a goddamn JOB Norm!" He pushed the envelope back across the table. There had to be five thousand dollars in it if not more. Daryl was dangerously close to freaking out, not even remotely comfortable with charity.

"We know you do, and ya work like a dog from what I hear. But your job right now is taking care of baby girl. Mr. Dover told Barry you're welcome to come back to work when she's better. But we didn't want you feeling like you had to before then."

"Who the hell is we? You and Kaye?"

Norm chuckled. "I wish we had that much lying around to give away, but we don't. Dogg and Gary both had good life insurance. A portion of which their old ladies wanted to give to the club. The club voted, unanimously, to give it to you and Amber. Those men died trying to protect her. They slowed those sons a bitches down long enough that we could gain on them, so you could catch her before she went off that roof. You give that money back, you're shaming those men's memory."

Norm pushed the envelope back in front of Daryl, who was looking at him wide eyed. He swallowed and then placed a shaking hand on it.

"What do I do with it?" he asked reverently.

"Pay bills, buy groceries, hell, take her out to dinner when she's out and able and shit gets rough. Put gas in the truck and the bike. Buy her little shit that makes her happy. Buy her big shit that makes her happy. You don't seem the type to blow money, just spend it on what y'all need."

"We ain't hardly got no bills. Trailer's her Paw's. Almost all our food comes off the farm. All we got is the light bill, gas, and the bike payment." Daryl grabbed his beer, suddenly in need of alcohol.

"Oh, that reminds me." Norm dug in the opposite side of his vest, coming up with a thin envelope. He handed it over also. Daryl eyed it suspiciously, as his beer dangled in the other hand. He was afraid to open it.

"What now?"

"That's the title to your bike. That money'll go farther now that you don't have that payment anymore."

The next few minutes were spent with Daryl and Norm mopping Daryl's spilled beer up off the table as the younger man cursed and the older laughed. Finally they both recovered enough to talk.

"Who the hell did THIS?" Daryl hissed, waving the title around.

"Club took up money, to go to y'all before we knew about Gary and Dogg's insurance. Once we had the other, we knew the bike was really the only regular bill y'all had. Barry got it for ya at cost, so it wasn't bad. He had Amber on a good insurance plan from the time she came home, he's OCD about shit like that, so her medical bills won't be bad. Was really the only thing you had we COULD pay off."

Daryl gripped the edge of the table, suddenly feeling light headed. The waitress brought Norm's change and he flipped a couple bills on the table for a tip.

"Y'alright?" he finally asked the man across from him. "You ain't about to pass out, cry, or some shit are ya?"

"Fuck NO! I need a goddamn cigarette!"

"C'mon then, I need one myself, after dealing with your ass."

They had both smoked half their cigs in the SUV, traveling on the road to the farm before Norm spoke again. He figured he needed to give Daryl time to process the envelopes he had carefully placed inside his own vest pocket.

"I know you aren't used to having a family, but that's what the club is. We don't just ride together, get drunk together. We have each other backs, whether with bikes, bullets, or bills. Trust me, if you decide to take ink, there'll be a time when you give somebody somethin. We're loud, rough, and drunk a good bit of the time. But we try to take care of our own. And Amber's one of ours, even if you decide not to take on our ink."

Daryl was looking out the window, chewing on the skin around his thumb so furiously that he tasted copper. That was the only thing keeping the knot in his throat from becoming something he sure as HELL wasn't about to do in front of Norm. "When can I?"

"When can you what?"

"Take my ink."

"Whoa." Norm was pulling in front of the trailer now, and parked before finishing so he could look at Daryl. "Don't think you have to do it because of the money. That's for y'all whether or not you're a Demon, she's the pres' daughter."

Daryl shook his head, still looking out the window. "I don't. I had planned to before...ya know, she got hurt. It's like ya said, all that family shit." He swallowed hard and decided it was a good time to stop talking before he embarrassed himself.

"You proved yourself a week ago. Your brother too, if he wants."

Daryl nodded.

"I'd wait until Amber's some better, she'll want to take her wings."

"She does. What we doin here?"

"Whatever you need to so you can have your shit together when you go back to the hospital. If it was me I'd find the most fucked up car I could and spend the next three hours ripping the engine apart. But you ain't me. So take a nap, go for a walk, go down on the dock and fish, whatever. Just be showered, changed and ready to go back when I pull up at four because supper trays come out at five at the hospital and if you aren't back by then a little green eyed woman is gonna own my ride."

Daryl chuckled and nodded to Norm before sliding out of the truck. He went in the trailer only long enough to hide the two envelopes, thick and thin, behind a box of canning jars on top of the kitchen cabinets. He briefly looked at his bow, considering going out in the woods but there would be nothing to do with the meat and he always hated to waste. So he grabbed a beer from the fridge instead (his third of the day, and it wasn't two o'clock yet, but considering the day he was having and that he hadn't touched any in a week he was okay with it) and headed out to the dock. He spent the next hour drinking and smoking, remembering the last night he and Amber spent out there. As much as he could through the mary jane and moonshine they had, anyway. Daryl tried to put his thoughts of what had transpired in the restaurant in order, but it was hopeless. He was in totally uncharted territory, for a Dixon.

Finally, his eyelids started to get heavy so he walked up to the trailer. He stood beside their bed for a few minutes but there was no way he was going to be able to sleep in it alone. So he just grabbed her pillow and laid down on the couch after toeing off his boots and setting the alarm on his phone for an hour before Norm would be there to pick him up. There were two things he needed to do before he got ready to go. Daryl went to sleep with his face buried in Amber's pillow, smelling rain.


	44. Chapter 44

**I love that you guys are feelin the feels! I was so afraid that people would be like "no smut and no action for a while? Eh, no thanks." But you guys like it! I promise I'm not going back to the 'one day takes five chapters' thing. Just some days have a lot of things going on, new feels, etc. I'm loving the reviews, keepem comin! And we will get back to smut and action eventually, I promise!**

**My dear friend SOA Loving Mom (AKA Queen Kaye and Mama Kaye from our story) has developed a 'spin off' in the 'Country' universe called "Home Sweet Home". She is telling Norm and Kaye's backstory through their flashbacks as they help Daryl and Amber navigate their relationship. It is fan-freakin-tastic! Queen Kaye has the most reviewed Daryl story (Winter's Heat) on the website (the last time I looked) and the chick can write the smut, as well as feels and action, so PLEASE go read it, review it, favorite it, favorite her! I learned the fanfiction craft at Kaye's feet so I feel like I owe all this to her! **

Daryl woke from a dreamless sleep to the beeping of his cell alarm. He rolled over and fumbled the phone up off the floor next to the couch, finding the correct place to hit on the screen through bleary eyes. After shoving his boots back on and standing to stretch he picked the phone back up, ready to do one of the two tasks that needed done before he got in the shower. The next ten minutes were spent on the phone, leaning on the bar on his elbows, hips cocked to one side. After that was done he took a quick trip to the bathroom (damn beer) and then headed out the front door as he pulled his knife from his waist. Daryl really hoped this wasn't one of those fuck ups he had talked to Norm about.

An hour later he was sitting on the steps to the front porch, hair still wet from his shower, with the product of his second task in one hand and the strap of the camo backpack he used on weekend long hunts in the other. Norm drove up at exactly ten minutes after four and Daryl was opening the passenger side door before the truck was even in park.

"Yer late." he grumbled as he shut the door behind him and threw his bag behind his seat. He set the other in his lap carefully.

"Hospital's only twenty minutes, even with traffic." Norm said calmly as he navigated the Suburban over the dam. He looked over at the object Daryl was fiddling with as it lay over his knees. "See, I told you that you weren't an idiot."

"Ya think she'll like'em? We could stop on the way and..."

"Nope. Those are good. Now quit messin with em or you'll fuck'em up. What's in the bag?"

"Just m'sleep clothes. Tired a'sleepin in jeans."

Norm's phone went off and he pulled it out of his vest as he drove. The truck stopped at the end of the big house's driveway as he checked the message.

"Is it Kaye? Somethin wrong?" Daryl asked impatiently.

"It's Kaye, but ain't nothin wrong. Calm down, boy."

"Then why's she textin ya?"

Norm rolled his eyes as he pulled onto the main road, sliding the phone back in his pocket. "Just wants me to let her know when we pull in at the hospital. That's all."

"Why? Sounds like somethin's wrong." Daryl's thumbnail went to his mouth and he winced. It was still raw from earlier, so he chose to worry his fidget band, glad he had remembered to pick it up from the bathroom counter.

Norm sighed. "Just light a damn cigarette and shut up. If something was wrong she would have told me."

Daryl grumbled but complied. His cigs still didn't taste right though, after having Amber light them for two weeks. He could just about quit. Just about.

The twenty minutes to the hospital seemed to take forever as he smoked. His fingertips still occasionally touched the edges of the object in his lap, wishing he had done a better job. He felt like a damn six year old, hoping beyond hope that Amber would like it. When Norm put the SUV in park he texted Kaye, letting her know they were there, as Daryl stood impatiently, ready to go in.

A few long minutes later they were stepping off the elevator on Amber's floor. Daryl glared at Norm as they passed the big cart carrying the supper trays but he just ignored him, maybe increasing his pace just a hair. Supper must be served early on Sunday's at the hospital. Kaye was standing outside Amber's door and smiled when she saw what Daryl had in his hand.

"Good job. Baby girl will love them." she said, admiring the gift.

"She okay?" Daryl asked quickly, knowing there had to be a reason why Kaye wanted to see him before he went in.

"First, let me tell you, Amber's fine." Kaye began and Daryl's stomach dropped. When people tell you that first, it means something's wrong. He had done it himself to Amber that morning about her daddy. Kaye continued, "The gynecologist that did her surgery?"

Daryl nodded, it was an older white haired man, pretty nice if he remembered through the panic he was in at the time he talked to him. "Yeah?" he prodded.

"He sent his nurse practitioner over to check her stitches." Daryl winced, sickeningly sure he knew where she was going. "It was pretty painful, but me and the nurse were in there with her."

"Fuck!" Daryl exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. "I shouda been here, dammit!"

Kaye held up her hand. "Let me finish. No you shouldn't. It was a woman, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She was as gentle as she could be, couldn't be helped. Son, stay with me here!"

Daryl sighed, hand already on the doorknob to Amber's room. Norm hooked his hand in Daryl's elbow and slowly turned him to face Kaye as he gave him one of the looks that Daryl had come to depend on.

Kaye sighed. "Listen, Amber's bleeding, but just a little. She was glad you weren't here, she knew it would upset you. She's worried about you too. And the news from the exam was great. The nurse practitioner said she is healing faster than they thought. And then she had a bed bath, I washed her hair and did her nails. She feels and looks SO much better. So put on a happy face," she eyed Daryl, knowing his happy face looked really close to his mad one. "okay, just don't act pissed, and give her what you brought her."

Daryl dropped his forehead to the wall in front of him, taking deep breaths to calm his racing mind. "So she in there by herself?"

"No, the nurse and Merle are in there."

Daryl's head shot up. "MERLE? What the fuck, Kaye? Ya left'er with Merle?"

"He just got here..."

Daryl didn't hear the rest, he was headed through the door. He knew his brother wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt Amber, but he also knew he wouldn't understand how fragile she was. Merle would scare her, get too close, have Amber screaming because he...

...was standing at the foot of her bed while Amber beamed at him as she pulled tomatoes out of a paper bag? Daryl stood stock still, the sight in front of him definitely not what he expected.

"Daryl! Come look what Merle brought me!" Amber called from the bed. Daryl gave his brother a tight lipped look as he made his way over to her. Merle ignored him, grinning at the smiling woman.

Daryl was so busy with staring down his brother that he didn't really look at Amber until he got to her side. She had been beautiful before, just because she was alive, awake. But now, compared to then, she positively glowed. He could tell her skin had been scrubbed until it was pink (of course, it was Amber, what other color would it be?) and her hair was still damp and squeaky clean. Kaye must have put it up for her, it was in Amber's trademark messy bun with a couple of wisps artfully pulled down to cover the spot they shaved to put in the drain. Her teeth were spotless and her lips were shiny and smooth, with a bare trace of her color. Instead of a hospital gown, she wore a simple modest cotton nightgown, the same soft color as the roses her mama had brought her that morning. In her ears were a pair of tiny studs, the stones the same color as her nightgown. The only thing about her face to remind about her ordeal were the bruises.

Daryl finally realized he was staring when Amber looked up at him, her nose crinkling as she smiled.

"You just gonna stand there and stare, Desperado?" It was the first time she had called him that since she woke up. It filled him with the most hope he had felt about their life returning to normal he had yet.

Daryl felt the corner of his mouth quirk up. "Hey, pretty girl." he breathed, bending down to kiss her cheek. And then, miracle of miracles, she kissed him back, yet another thing she hadn't done in over a week. Her lips just barely brushed his skin, hardly disturbing even a hair of the scruff on his jaw but he felt it as surely as if he had been touched by a live wire. Amber might have woken up last night, but sometime this afternoon she had come back alive, at least a little.

He sunk onto the bed at her hip in his usual spot, his fingertips brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"So, do I look human now?" Amber asked expectantly.

"Prettiest thing I ever seen." Daryl let it slip, forgetting they weren't alone.

She shook her head, but he saw how her eyes were suddenly watery. She looked down in her lap and remembered what she had in her hands. She held up one of the two big red tomatoes, as carefully as if it was some kind of jewel.

"Look! They're MINE! From the garden!"

Daryl nodded with a smirk. "Ya did good, worked hard." He turned to Merle with a scowl. "She cain't eat stuff like that yet!"

Merle returned his frown. "They're hers. She can do with'em what the hell she wants. They was the first two, just came ripe this mornin."

Daryl felt Amber's hand on his arm and he turned back to her. "Daryl, don't get mad at him! I promise, I won't eat them until they say I can, okay?" He nodded, taking the other one in his free hand to admire it in front of her. "They do look good. Do I get ta eat one?"

"Yes." she answered with a grin, at the same time Merle sent a "No!" up from beyond her toes.

"We all three worked out there at one time or another, so we ALL get some." Amber gave the compromise with an air of authority, despite her size and the extant of her injuries.

"Well, there might have been one more..." Merle trailed off.

"And you ate it?" Amber offered.

"Well, your Maw had some bread and mayo just sittin on the counter, sugar..."

"And that tomato just fell on your knife, sliced itself, and ended up on a sandwich?" Amber was shaking with giggles now, and Daryl couldn't help but smirk as he watched her. Fuckin' Merle, he would be the first one to get a laugh out of her.

"They have been known to do that, sugar."

Daryl rolled his eyes at them both. Amber stopped laughing suddenly and her eyes went down to what he held in his hand that didn't hold the tomato. He'd forgot he had it with the whole garden thing.

"Those for me?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper, like she was afraid they weren't. Daryl was at a loss, feeling like a six year old handing his mama a handful of crumpled dandelions. He laid the bouquet of wildflowers in her lap gently. She scrambled to put the tomatoes carefully back in the bag and set it on her nightstand so she could pick it up. It was big, Daryl could just barely encompass the stems with one hand, fingers barely touching. Amber had to use both her hands as she laid them in the crook of her arm, fingering the petals lightly.

"They're for the prettiest girl I know." Well, he'd be damned if he knew where that came from. Amber would think he was stupid and Merle would never let him live it down. Thank god the nurse had stepped out sometime during the whole tomato thing.

Amber looked up at him and he saw it coming. The tears were slipping down her face and then her chin quivered. Shit, he made her fuckin cry. Daryl moved to take the flowers back but Amber clutched them to her chest tightly.

"Don't you dare!" she sobbed out, the other arm going around his neck. Daryl leaned over her simply because of the pressure of her hand on his upper back. He heard Merle murmur a quick "Bye, bro." and threw a hand up in his direction before the door clicked shut. Then Daryl just held Amber for the minute it took for her to quit sobbing, wondering.

Finally she caught her breath and pulled back. Daryl watched her eyes, asking "So, ya like'em?"

Amber wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and chuckled. "Do I like them? I LOVE them! They're perfect!"

"They ain't like all them." he gestured toward the windowsill, that now held the pink roses, plus two more large arrangements that must have been delivered while he was gone. "I probably shoulda stopped and..."

"No!" Amber shook her head franticly, wiping her eyes again. "These are perfect! You listened to what I liked and got it! Where did these come from? From outside the back door of the trailer?"

Daryl nodded, looking at Amber warily from under his hair. She looked like she might cry again.

"Daryl, you brought me part of our HOME! It couldn't be any better!"

His hand reached up to brush across her damp cheek. "Then why ya cryin?" He jumped when he heard Norm chuckle from the door.

"You got a lot to learn, boy. They cry when they're sad, cry when they're happy, cry just to cry. It's what women do."

Daryl turned around to where Norm poked his head in, trying to give him the best pleading look he could.

_Help me out here!_

The older man just shook his head with a small smile. "Told you, you did good. Me n'Kaye are headed home. They about to bring baby girl's supper."

"Um...tell Kaye..." Daryl glanced over in Amber's direction and then looked back at Norm. "ya know..."

"Yeah. S'alright. We'll see y'all later." He left then and Daryl turned back to Amber. She had dried her face and was running the pale pink ribbon that was tied around the flowers through her fingers.

"This is familiar." she said softly.

"Yeah, found it in your bag of hair stuff in the bathroom. I'll buy ya another, it was the only pink I could find. Wasn't no flowers that color bloomin."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I never wore it anyway, but it's perfect for these. Did you tie the bow?"

"I mighta walked up ta the big house and got some help."

Amber laughed then and they got the flowers settled in her ice pitcher after he dumped the ice out and refilled it with water. Daryl took his spot back at her side, and Amber motioned to his bag on the floor. "What's that?"

"Just m'sleep clothes. I might have another surprise for ya later though."

"Daryl, you're killing me with the gifts. The flowers were enough."

"This ain't really a present, just a surprise."

"So tell me."

"Sur. Prise. Amber. Ya know what that means?"

She rolled her eyes just before the nurse knocked on the door, bringing her food. She finished her supper, which had advanced a little to cream of mushroom soup and sherbet. Still not great in Daryl's book, but Amber inhaled it, along with a Coke, which the nurse had relented and let Daryl bring her from the machine down the hall. Amber kept begging Daryl until he ate one of the tomatoes, with salt from her tray. He had to admit, it was great.

It was almost seven when there was another knock at the door. Amber grinned widely when Leigh peeked around the corner, and Daryl smirked at Amber, making sure he avoided meeting the nurses gaze.

"Oh, honey, you look great!" Leigh told Amber, taking a minute to exclaim over the gown and earrings.

"You didn't have to come all the way down to see me before your shift, Leigh. I know you're busy." Amber remarked, obviously happy she did.

"Actually," Leigh glowered in Daryl's direction while he looked out the window, "I'm your nurse tonight."

"But you're in the unit?" Amber asked, glancing at Daryl, suddenly suspicious herself.

"I got met in the parking lot by an administrator. He said that to provide you with the best 'continuum of care' I would be assigned to your part of the floor for the rest of your stay."

"Oh. My. God. Leigh, I am so sorry." Amber punched Daryl in the arm, not hard, just enough to make him look at her. "Daryl Joseph Dixon! You called daddy! You can't do that!"

Daryl shrugged, "Maybe I did, Maybe I didn't. Demons don't give up their sources."

Amber narrowed her eyes at him. "That's a Barry line if I EVER heard one! He told you to say that!" She tried to apologize to Leigh but she stopped her.

"No, it's fine. Really, I don't mind. It's nice to have a little while back on the floor, with patients that can talk to me. They offered me doubletime for all the days I work that I was scheduled off for, so I'm getting a trip out of it. Daryl..." she waited until he finally met her eyes, " why don't you ask me? I would have agreed."

Daryl shrugged. "S'rry. Didn't think 'bout it till today. Just figured ya knew...it'd go better...make'r happy." He looked between both women, noting with relief that the expressions on their faces told all was forgiven.

An hour and a half later, Leigh was giving Amber her bedtime meds when Daryl stepped out of the bathroom wearing his old sweatpants. He had always slept in just his boxers and a wife beater until Amber, and then naked once he was with her, so he didn't have a whole lot of choices. He started to pull on his tee but then just thought 'Fuck it.'. Leigh had seen him half the night and then this morning with his shirt off, and had never batted an eyelash. Maybe it was because she saw all kinds of shit as an intensive care nurse. A month ago, Daryl wouldn't have dared taken his shirt off around a woman he fucked, much less two, one of which was just an acquaintance who was edging her way into being a friend. He guessed that was just one of about a million things that had happened in the last month. He was surprised his brain hadn't just exploded. Daryl had gotten the best job of his life, met the prettiest woman he had ever seen, she actually wanted him (for some damn reason he had yet to figure out), she had done things to his body that he had never even knew existed but more importantly she fuckin LOVED him, he had said it back and MEANT it, Merle got out of jail and stayed clean for longer than a week, they joined a motorcycle club, now owned said motorcycle outright, he had almost lost Amber, found a family, and now he had to help her come back from hell. Oh, and they had enough money to pay for the next ten months (if they were careful) hidden behind a box of canning jars in THEIR (as in SHARED) home. Just thinking about it made Daryl's brain hurt a little.

He was broken from his thoughts by Leigh coming around the corner. The door to the bathroom was hidden from Amber's bed by a corner, and they stood in the small alcove in front of the door to the hallway.

"I gave her a sleeping pill. It might help, might not. It's just one of those things we gotta try." the nurse explained with a shrug.

"What about her pain medicine? I don't want'er hurtin." Daryl whispered back.

"Just dosed her for the next six hours on everything. I'm not gonna lie, it'll surprise me if she makes it until morning without nightmares or terrors or flashbacks, whatever it is."

Daryl nodded, he'd figured as much.

"So, just make sure to keep doing that thing you do that brings her back. Hit the call button once she calms down, so I can come in and give her something if it's time. I know you try to keep her from banging her leg around, but just jerking around like she does is hard on her leg and the other."

"They tell ya about tha other, what happened t'day?"

"Yes. I just checked, she's fine. Not even bleeding. So go get some sleep, hold her close so she gets some and call me when she wakes."

Leigh slipped out the door and Daryl made his way to the bed in the dim light that spilled in the window. He had never went to bed this early, it was only eight thirty. It wasn't even completely dark outside considering it was the middle of summer. But he had gotten maybe three hours sleep the previous night, and then two naps totaling another two hours so he was still behind. He was way behind once you counted the whole previous eight days.

Leigh and Daryl had moved Amber over and repositioned her leg before he changed clothes so all he had to do was crawl in beside her. Unlike that morning, he immediately scooted as close as he could, pulling her into his chest. Amber burrowed in and he smirked, she was like a damn squirrel. The smirk fell away quickly when he remembered why she did that, she was afraid. Her mood had darkened after supper as the sun started to set. He could tell she was thinking about what was most probably going to happen that night.

"You smell good." she said from his chest.

"Like what, cigarettes and beer?" he scoffed.

"Some smoke, but not in a bad way, soap from our bathroom, leather from your vest. I like it...it helps to bring me back."

"Good." he kissed the top of her head. "Ya know what you smell like?"

"Whatever it is, it's got to be better than I did this morning."

He chuckled. "Rain, ya've always smelled like that."

She was quiet for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry." Her voice vibrated against his skin.

"For what, smellin good?"

"No. For whatever's going to happen tonight."

"Quit worryin. Ain't nothin happened yet."

"But it will, you know that."

"An' I'll be right here. Now go t'sleep, yer tired."

"I'm scared."

Daryl tightened his arms around her as tight as he dared. He had forgone his sling all day and his shoulder ached, but he just ignored it, her sanity more important. "Ain't goin nowhere. An if somethin happens, I'll bring ya back quick as I can. I love ya." he kissed the top of her head again.

"I love you too."

Amber kissed the center of his chest and, like always, it burned as if Daryl had been set on fire.


	45. Chapter 45

**Loving the reviews! I want to welcome all the readers who have come on board because of SOA loving mom's 'Home Sweet Home'! I am a Caryl'er through and through, will always be. But I love me some Amber/Daryl in the walker free universe. A lot of you are stepping outside of the "Caryl" universe to read this story and I appreciate that so much! 'Home Sweet Home' is just getting better and better, Queen Kaye is doing a wonderful job keeping these characters true to themselves and this universe.**

**Of course I appreciate everyone who has been here from the beginning too though! I love you all! Remember, reviews get unicorns and rainbows!**

_"You know, cher, I was going to be gentle...You'll still be bleeding when they drag your dying archer up here."_

_Then the pain, ripping her apart as the carpet bit into her cheek. Kaye was screaming and Amber tried to go to Daryl, go to that memory. But she could't breathe, the monster was on her now and my god, SHE COULDN'T BREATHE!_

_Finally, air, sweet as heaven, filled her lungs just before the hell of her knee exploded below. She tried to move it away from the hurt but the leg was pinned down...why couldn't she FUCKING GET AWAY?! She had to scream, had to tell Daryl she was here. Amber sucked in another lungful of air and forced it out, forcing his name through split and bleeding lips._

And then, as if her cry had summoned him, her saviour was there. Daryl towered over her, his voice rough and graveled as if he had just woken from sleep.

"I'm here, baby girl! I'M RIGHT HERE! Your with ME, a'ight?! Yer safe!"

Amber froze, eyes darting around the dark room. The hospital, she was in the hospital. Her mind came back to the present and she sagged against Daryl's grip. He had both her wrists held carefully but firmly in one hand while the other had a hold on her thigh, pinning it to his own leg and preventing her from further injury.

The tears bubbled up as she gasped. "Oh god...I'm so..."

Daryl pulled her back into his chest before she could apologize but not before she saw the nail marks down the left side of his chest.

"S'alright. I got ya, not gonna let nothin happen to ya, pretty girl."

Amber balled her hands up next to her head as she sobbed, pushing down the urge to beat her fists against his chest in frustration. She had already hurt him enough. Nausea rolled over her in a wave and she gagged, pulling away. Daryl leaned back and reached his arm behind him to grab a basin off her nightstand and tuck it between them. He quickly raised the head of the bed as she dry heaved and then she felt a cold cloth against her forehead. Her stomach balled up, as if painfully empty, even though Amber knew she had eaten all her supper. And when did he put the basin next to the bed?

"Better?" he asked quietly, pressing a few stray wisps of hair back from her face as her heaving stomach slowed.

Amber nodded and the cloth moved down her face. She took it from him, she'd be damned if he wiped her nose for her. Daryl already had to sit there and fight her while she acted like a lunatic and then puked.

"Be better if I could get something up." she said, closing her eyes over the basin that was empty except for a paper towel lining the bottom and a few stray tears.

"Don't reckon ya got nothin left in there to get up."

"I ate supper."

Daryl was quiet for a second. "Girl...this ain't tha first time ya woke up t'night." he murmured.

Amber sighed, now she was blacking out, fantastic. "How long ago?"

Daryl squinted up at the clock on the wall in the thin predawn light. "It's six now. Other time was 'bout three. Reckon ya made it longer tha first time cause of the sleepin pill."

"Was it as bad as this time?"

Daryl didn't answer, which told her what she needed to know.

"Was worse, wasn't it."

She felt him nod against her neck. Her fingertips traced over the red streaks that began right below his left collar bone and ended right above his nipple.

"That when I did these?"

Daryl sighed and closed his eyes as he took her hand in his to bring it to his lips. He kissed the tips of her fingers before he laid the hand back on his chest, palm over his heart.

"You're gonna have to stop sleeping with me." Amber said, her voice flat.

"Uhuh." Daryl pulled her closer under his arm, as if afraid she would make him get out of the bed right then.

"I can't keep hurting you."

"Ya didn't. Jus a scratch, I shoulda woke up quicker."

"Did you really just try to take the blame for me clawing you?"

"I cain't sleep without ya." he admitted.

"You aren't getting any sleep with me."

Daryl snorted."Useta get a lot less. I know what it's like ta wake up...scared, bein somewhere else, like I was havin the shit beat outta me all over again..." He reached up and turned on the light just over the head of the bed. Amber swallowed, afraid she knew what he was doing.

Daryl moved the basin back to the nightstand and put his fingers under Amber's chin to bring her eyes up to his. "How come ya ain't ever asked about m'back?"

"Like I said, figured you tell me when you were ready."

He brushed a thumb just under her lower eyelid, over the shades of green and yellow that lingered there. "Fuck, girl..." he breathed, before lowering his head, slower than slow, to drop a whisper light kiss where his thumb had just been. She still flinched a tiny bit, but he just gentled her through it and finished his action. Amber remembered how she had done the same with him those first few days at the trailer and marveled at being on the other side of it now.

Then Daryl turned so that his back was toward her as he sat on the edge of the bed. The light over the bed was fluorescent, glaringly bright, revealing his marred flesh in stark shadowless reality.

"You don't..." Amber began.

"Hush, girl. Just...listen. I ain't gonna be able to get it out but once, if that. I still ain't really turned m'back to ya less it was half dark. My daddy...he didn't have ta drink ta hurt us, me n' Merle. He was just fuckin mean." Daryl's voice was husky and drawn and he ran a hand over his face before continuing. "Merle was fifteen when mama died, I wasn't but five. That's when it got bad, Merle was nearly as big as daddy by then, left a couple years later. Then I got all of it. Use'ta beat me till I bled, till I pissed m'self, till I puked and passed out. For cryin for mama, for spillin somethin, for just bein there sometimes." He stood at the side of the bed and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his sweats to pull them just under the curve of his ass. "They go all the way down, I know ya've felt these, but it's different ta see'em in the light."

Amber's hand went to her mouth, choking down a shocked sob. He was right, the twisted and puckered flush was one thing to run your fingers over, but another to see in bright light. Daryl slid the waistband of his pants up after a minute and sat back down. Amber thought he was finished and was going to turn back to her, but he just continued facing the wall before sighing and leaning forward, elbows on his knees, looking down at the floor.

"Gonna tell ya somethin Merle don't even know. After he left, daddy would..." Daryl's voice broke and he ran his hand over his face as Amber was overcome with the cold realization of where this was going. "daddy would do...things. Things that no daddy's got a right ta do to a kid. Maybe once or twice a month, when he was drunker than usual. Said if I told, he'd kill me." His shoulders shook, for just a bare second and Amber reached her hand out to press it against his back as he steadied himself, sniffing once as he shook his head. He leaned back into her touch but still didn't turn. "He only stopped when I got older, bigger, started lookin like a man instead of a scrawny kid. So I KNOW what it's like ta wake up screamin, feelin like ya cain't breathe, tryin ta get away...hurtin in places ya ain't 'sposed ta hurt."

Daryl turned back to her, clicked off the light, then leaned on his side against the raised top half of the bed so that their faces are only inches apart. Even in the shadows she could see how red his eyes were, how the bags under them were much larger than they had been minutes ago. His hand in hers, now, was damp where he had been running it over his face. "Ya know tha last time I woke up like that?"

Amber shook her head, unwilling to break whatever spell it was that was allowing him to bare his soul like this.

"The last night at the rental house, the night before we went ta Jake's. I ain't never woke up one time like that when I was near ya. I know what it's like, girl, ta feel like ya right back there. Mine wasn't the same as you, ain't sayin that. I'd take my nightmares back if it meant you didn't have yours. But I ain't leavin you in 'em alone. Don't ask me to, ever again...please. I love ya too much."

Amber drew him close and he buried his head in her shoulder, the arms that wrapped around her shaking as hers found there way around his neck. This time, for those few minutes, their roles reversed. Daryl shook against her as she murmured into the top of his head, that she loved him, always would. They stayed like this as the sun rose, waking up the small town. Amber and Daryl lay side by side in that bed, each truly as broken and perfect as the other.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

An hour and a half later, Daryl was dressed and sitting on the side of the bed when Leigh came in with Amber's breakfast tray. She placed it down in front of her and removed the top with a flourish.

"Regular diet for breakfast, honey!"

Amber's eyes widened in excitement, not at the plate of eggs, grits, and bacon in front of her, but the cup of coffee to the side.

Daryl took a look at the single pack of creamer and two packets of sugar on the tray and snorted.

"She's gonna need more than that."

Amber stuck her tongue out at him. His revelation to her had apparently pulled her out of her pity party, at least for the moment.

"Why don't you go downstairs and get you something to eat?" Leigh was now changing Amber's empty bag of IV fluids.

"Naw, I'm alright."

Amber frowned, putting down the fork she had just picked up. "GO! Leigh can stay for a minute. And you haven't smoked since yesterday afternoon."

Daryl scowled, realizing they were ganging up on him. He really could use a smoke though, especially after that morning. He remembered what Norm said, being hungry and tired would make him screw up more. He did that enough without any extra help.

"Go on!" Leigh ordered, shooing him out he door. "We've got some girl stuff to handle, gotta check some things before I leave."

Daryl huffed but grabbed his wallet and headed down to the cafeteria, ending up sitting in the smoking area outside with a couple of sausage biscuits and a coffee. He took a bite, watching the traffic pick up around the hospital and grimaced. These were definitely not Amber's biscuits, he missed her cooking. Only one of the biscuits got eaten, the other was pitched in the trashcan nearby. He wasn't much on breakfast, at least he wasn't before a green eyed girl started making him the lightest biscuits he ever ate, covered in preserves she made from pears that came from a tree in Roxie's backyard.

Coffee and a cigarette would have to suffice for the rest of his morning meal. Daryl dug in his vest pocket and pulled out his phone, calling with one hand while he smoked with the other.

"Yeah?" Norm's voice was surprisingly clear considering it wasn't even eight yet.

"You up?" Daryl reached over to flick his ashes into the ashtray beside him.

"No, dumbass, I'm talkin in my sleep. Something wrong with baby girl?"

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Had a bad night."

Norm sighed on the other end of the line. "Yeah, Kaye too. How many times?"

"Two. But when she woke up this mornin, she didn't even remember the first time. Like she fuckin blacked out or somethin."

"What'd you do?"

"First time she just woke up screamin and fightin like usual, got herself so worked up she puked, then just fell back over asleep. Scratched me up but it ain't nothin. Second time, like before but she stayed awake, didn't remember the first. Got upset when she saw the scratches."

"And what did you do?"

Daryl thought for a moment, what he had shared with Amber had been just for her. "Loved'er, like ya told me. Let'er know I wasn't goin anywhere. She tried ta get me ta stop sleepin with'er."

"And?"

"Let'er know that wasn't happenin."

"Good." Daryl could hear the relief in Norm's voice. "So why'd you call me?"

"Uh...if she does that again...like blacks out, do I need to tell her or just..."

"DON'T lie to her. Don't EVER lie to her." Norm cut Daryl off so quickly it shocked him. Kaye's night must have been really bad.

"A'ight. I am so fuckin READY for her to come home. And she just woke up."

"What are they sayin?"

"Nurse said yesterday she can start therapy maybe this week, depending on the x-rays they gonna take today. That's all they've said. She's eatin real food now though. Uh...how's Kaye?"

"Good one minute...not so good another. It really helped her goin and helpin out baby girl yesterday."

"Yeah, tell her I...uh...really appreciate what she did. I acted like a dick before I went in."

"Yeah, I know. I'll tell'er."

"A'ight. I'm outside smoking, gotta get back up there."

"Tell baby girl we love her."

After saying goodbye Daryl made his way back to Amber's room. She had finished her breakfast and was working on her coffee with a smile as Leigh straightened up her sheets.

"Everythin' a'ight?" Daryl asked, flopping down in the chair in the corner since Leigh was working on Amber's bed.

"Better than alright." Amber smirked, looking up at Leigh.

"Yeah, " the nurse leaned on the windowsill so she could talk to Daryl. "The gynecologist and the orthopedist came by while you were gone."

"And?" Daryl didn't have that sinking feeling in his stomach, both women were too happy.

Leigh continued as Amber looked over the rim of her cup at him. He didn't miss the pile of creamers and the stack of empty sugar packets on Amber's bedside table, the little sugar freak.

"The gynecologist said he will release her to just be seen in the office if she doesn't bleed for the next couple days. The nurse practitioner said she looked great yesterday, y'all already knew that."

"And the leg guy?"

"If her x-rays come back with new bone growth around the break, which they should since she was in good health before this and her age, Amber will begin physical therapy. The doctor asked whether y'all would want to move her to a rehab facility for a month or two or go through all the trouble of just releasing her home and driving back and forth..."

"She's goin home." Daryl interrupted, his tone with an air of finality.

Leigh and Amber both laughed. The nurse held up her hand. "I know Daryl, I'm yanking your chain. I told the doctor I didn't have to ask either of you, you would want her to go home."

Amber set her coffee cup down and held her arms out. Leigh had to quickly step out of the way so Daryl didn't mow her down on his way to the bed. A second later he had his arms full, and Amber looked up at him.

"They said if all goes good, I can be home in a week, Desperado! A WEEK!"

Home.

That sounded so FUCKIN GOOD.


	46. Author's Note

Authors Note

To my loyal readers, please excuse this authors note. I will post my new chapter later tonight. Yay! Amber is going home and we pick up some excitement again and smut (yes, I have my ways, while Amber recovers mentally and physically.)

It has come to my attention that the spin off of this story has been attacked, SOA loving mom (AKA Queen Kaye) received a message saying her story is going to be reported and deleted because she isn't allowed to write about real people. Obviously, the coward writing this isn't an author. FIRST OFF, I created this universe, she uses my characters with my permission (actually, it flattered my fat ass off that a writer as good as her would bless me with a spin off). So if you have a problem with my characters, COME TO ME! SECOND: All good writers base their characters on real people, at least in part. It's how they are believable (and it's something I have fought for from the beginning in this story) No one on here is a direct copy of a real person, living or dead. It's called fanFICTION for a reason, darlin.

*silver cracks her knuckles*

I have said it before, do not mess with Kaye. I CREATED THE COUNTRY UNIVERSE! All the characters are MINE! You wanna report, go ahead. I left middle school behind twenty years ago, baby. You dont want to read something, whether it's mine, Kaye's, or anyone elses, there is this delightful new invention called a back button. Use it. This story and Kaye's gets new followers everyday.

If this is my stalker, who has followed me for 11 years, through a job, an adoption, hacked my facebook, stalked my family, I know who you are LG. You live five minutes away, please quit screwing around with my family and friends and get a life. Or just take a swing at me. Take your meds, honey, I took mine.

Again, to all the wonderful readers, I apologize for getting your hopes up for an update, I will have it ASAP. I appreciate you all so much. I just couldn't handle a dear friend being hurt the way Kaye has been.

Silver (AKA Amber)


	47. Chapter 47

**I really liked where this chapter ended up. Thank you so much for your reviews and support for myself and SOA loving mom. Review me please, let me know what's working for you and what's not.**

**SOA loving mom made me a BEAUTIFUL cover for my story but I am unable to post it from my iphone. I am hoping to borrow my sister-in-laws laptop in the next day or two and get it posted.**

The last week at the hospital had felt more like a year for both of them, but Daryl especially. The days were filled with an ever increasing amount of therapists and work for Amber. She was stoic about it, never refusing to do anything no matter the pain. But Daryl had to step out of the room several times over those seven days, the sight of tears running down her face as she bent her new knee for the first time or the one hundredth time was too much, his fists and heart clenching. But there was really no one to be angry at, no body to aim his fist or knife for. The one who had done the damage was over a week dead by Daryl's own hand. The therapists (always women) were doing their job, doing what was best for Amber, trying to get her home. So he would go smoke, go get a cup of coffee (despite feeling like he could use something much stronger), or go call Norm who was having problems of his own. And Daryl would return to lean against the wall beside her door, waiting for the therapist to come out. He then would go in and listen to her proudly exclaim how many times more she had done something, or how much more movement she had gained since the day before. Daryl would tell her how good she was doing, how hard she was working to get home while ignoring how pale Amber suddenly was and how puffy her eyes were.

Then the sun would set, taking with it her steeled determination, leaving Amber shaking in anticipation of what waited for her in the dark. Every night she would wake up screaming at least twice, whether or not she would remember it later seeming to be set at random. And every time he was there, with Leigh as back up when the flashbacks were particularly bad. Amber never again asked him to leave her bed, not after what Daryl had shared with her in those predawn hours that first morning. Visitors were limited to immediate family, which in Amber's case meant her parents, grandparents, Kaye and Norm, and Merle (at her request). Daryl wasn't a visitor where Amber was concerned, they were a package deal. He walked behind her bed when she had to be taken to the x-ray department even, unwilling to risk her being upset like she had just before leaving the ICU.

Barry was finally able to come see her on Wednesday, his own arm in a sling like Daryl's so that he wouldn't rip the stitches in his shoulder out. He had stood at the foot of her bed, observing the space that all men who knew the facts of her assault had done, but Amber immediately held her arms out to him. So he wrapped his good arm around his baby girl, crying huge tears despite being the meanest mother fucking president of the most bad ass motorcycle club in the south. There were only two things that came before being a Demon for Barry, his wife and his daughter. He told her Leon had been cremated and that the decision of what to do with his ashes had yet to be made. Amber just nodded and told him she was so sorry. Sorry that Leon had changed from the man with promise he had been to the lying murderer he had become, sorry that her father had to make the decision he made that night. Daryl might have been the one to put Amber's knife in Leon's throat, but Barry had given the order to end his life.

Amber noticed a few hours after his first phone call with Norm that Daryl had been going without his sling, and promptly ordered him back in to it. That night he had to slip out of it to get her back to reality before she ripped one of the temporary external hardware from her knee. So they came to a compromise, him wearing it during the day and going without it at night.

Finally,one evening, the doctor wrote the orders for her discharge, for her to go home the next day. She would return to the rehab floor three times a week for therapy and continue with exercises on her 'off' days at home. An appointment was made for follow up with the gynecologist who had repaired her lacerations for two weeks after her discharge. The day shift nurse (Leigh would have known better) felt that she had to remind them both that sex was still off the table. It was the first time in Daryl's life that he had ever wanted to hit a woman. The fact that she thought he would even consider it enraged him and he barely held his tongue.

Both Amber's parents and Norm and Kaye volunteered to drive her home in the back seat of one of their SUV's but she was firm, Daryl was taking her home in the truck. The nurse pushed Amber to the big double doors of the hospital as he pulled that beat to hell pick up around. It was a limo as far as Amber was concerned. When he got out and opened the door the nurse pushed her chair close. Her right leg was now encased in a brace from thigh to ankle, metal rods in it to keep her leg straight but it was velcroed shut so it could be removed for therapy. She went to swing her leg down off the footrest of the wheel chair and push up off the armrests, to help with the transfer to the truck, just like the therapist had taught her. But even with a bad shoulder, Daryl was faster. He slipped his arm out of the sling and scooped Amber up, despite her protests, and slid her into the truck. She quickly maneuvered to sit with her back against him as he drove and her leg on the bench seat in front of her. He went to lay his right arm on the back of the seat, next to her head but Amber just cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow until he put it back in the sling.

The ride took exactly twenty eight minutes (there was no traffic, Daryl just drove extra slow to keep from jostling her) and Amber talked excitedly the whole way, while he nodded every so often or smirked at a particularly funny observation. She was almost like a child, her joy at finally being back out the in real world palpable. Twenty eight minutes later found Daryl inching his way over the gravel dam as she urged him to speed up. He just ignored her as the trailer came into view, with a one Merle Dixon sitting on their porch steps.

"The hell is he doin here? I done told ever body that ya needed ta rest t'day." Daryl glowered as he pulled next to the porch.

"Be nice. It's just Merle."

Daryl jumped out of the truck, asking his brother "What're you doin here? She's fuckin tired."

Merle shrugged as he walked over. "Figured ya could use some help gettin her shit in."

"See Daryl, he's being NICE." Amber called from the truck, giving Merle a wave. Daryl rolled his eyes, Merle being nice was still a fairly new occurrence and hard to get used to. Daryl threw him his keys.

"Be NICE and go unlock the door then, while I get her out."

Merle caught them and turned for the porch, lifting a middle finger at his little brother. Being nice was new for Merle himself too. But then Amber's voice rang out from the truck.

"Merle, wait, come here."

He jogged over to her door where Daryl was readying to remove his arm from the sling.

"Yeah, lil' sugar? Ya need somethin?"

She looked between the two men carefully. "Daryl's overworked his arm today. Can...you carry me in?"

"I'm FINE. I'll do it." Daryl said firmly, shaking his head.

"Sugar, I ah..." Merle fumbled, looking at Amber uneasily.

"No, y'all listen," she pleaded, "I've got to get used to being around men I trust. It's Merle, I know he won't hurt me."

Daryl shook his head again. "No, girl! It's yore first damn day home!"

"Please...let me try. You'll be right here, he can hand me off if I get scared. Please..." Daryl was standing right at her door now and she placed her hand on his chest, her eyes searching his. He finally sighed loudly and dropped his head in defeat to step back from the door.

"Be CAREFUL, dammit!" he hissed at Merle as he slowly took his brother's place at the truck.

"Ya sure, sugar?" the elder Dixon asked as he fidgeted his hands across the vinyl of the seat at her side nervously. Amber took a deep breath to steady herself and nodded. Daryl looked on, watching her face intensely for any signs of fear. Merle slowly slid his hands and then arms behind her back and her legs. Watching him try NOT to touch a woman inappropriately after so many years spend eagerly copping feels would have been humorous had the stakes not been so high. As soon as her weight was fully in his arms, her hands slipped up around his thick corded neck.

"Ya a'ight?" Daryl asked, worrying his fidget band, so close that he was nearly brushing against her legs.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she nodded. Truth was, Merle could feel how tense she was against him but decided not to say anything. She was going to fight this fight her way, as much as Daryl would let her anyway.

Merle quickly carried her into the house, with none of his usual flirty banter. Daryl opened the door and his brother strode in to lay Amber on the couch, as gentle as if she were made of porcelain. As soon as his arms were removed from her he stood back and grinned.

"Ya did it, lil' sugar! Good damn deal!"

Amber nodded emphatically. "Yeah I did, didn't I!"

Daryl slid down to sit on the arm of the couch at her head, his relief at being home evident now that his worries about what just transpired relieved. "Yeah, ya did it, good job. 'nough pushing it for t'day though." he looked up at his brother. "Bye."

Merle scowled but then nodded, turning back to Amber. "Bye, sugar. I'll see ya tomorrow, bring ya some more tomatoes." She smiled broadly as he left, obviously proud of herself. Daryl slid down on the cushion behind her back when she sat up and patted it. He could feel himself sinking into it, the feeling of joy at being home coupled with the exhaustion of the last couple weeks. To his surprise, instead of leaning on his arm, Amber lay back down, head and shoulders in his lap. When HAD been the last time they were like this on the couch? It had been just before his first time at the clubhouse, which seemed a lifetime ago, even though it was just two and a half weeks.

"Ya okay?" Daryl asked quietly, tentatively brushing his fingers through her hair where it tumbled over his thigh and onto the couch.

She smiled up at him softly. "You're not going to ask me that every time I do something, are you?"

He shrugged. "Prob'ly."

"Don't. I've never been scared of you, not even when I first woke up. I'll let you know if something changes."

Daryl grunted and shook his head at her stubbornness.

"I'm tired." Amber stretched in his lap and yawned, running her hands over her face.

"Then go ta sleep. I might join ya." He replied, toeing off his boots carefully so as not to jostle her on his legs.

"You don't look very comfortable."

Daryl let his head fall onto the back of the couch. "More comfortable than anything in that damn hospital." He was telling the truth, in fact his eyes were already closed.

Amber nodded in his lap, her own eyes half lidded. They drifted off to sleep together, the sounds and smells of home relaxing their bodies the way nothing else could.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

She made it two hours that time. Daryl woke up to early afternoon sun streaming in the windows, a crick in his neck and Amber squirming and grimacing in his lap. Her movement must have set off his own body, because he was sporting a raging erection under her shoulders. The shame at responding to her was immediate and deep despite the hard on quickly dying as soon as he woke and saw she was distressed.

Daryl threw his sling off, leaning over to grab the top of her brace with one hand while trying to hold down her arms with the other. Instead of yelling he just spoke low and calmly, having learned in the hospital that if he caught her before she actually started screaming that he could avoid the biggest part of her flashback.

"Wake up, baby girl. C'mon, yer at home."

Amber twisted in his lap, obviously trying to get away. Then her hips bucked up. That had confused him in the hospital, until Kaye had explained the son of a bitch had hurt her from behind. She was trying to move away from what was causing the pain.

"Daryl's coming. He's going to kill you." she muttered to the open air in front of her face with her eyes still closed. His heart sank, is that why Philip had stomped her knee apart, because she had mentioned him?

"I DID come for ya, girl. I did kill'em. Yer safe now, and HOME."

At the mention of the word home her body slowly stilled, her face relaxing. Amber's eyes didn't open, this being one of the times she immediately slipped back into sleep. Daryl looked at at the clock where it sat on the table at his elbow. They had slept two hours, he needed to wake her. The more tired Amber was at bedtime, the longer she slept until her first episode. He threaded his fingers into her hair at her temple and then gently combed them through the waves.

"C'mon, girl, ya gotta wake up."

Amber's face scrunched up and he smirked. "Time ta wake up, baby girl." He ran his fingers down the side of her face and then cupped her jaw. She pouted but her eyes fluttered open, the sudden vision of that emerald green with gold flecks making his heart lurch like always. She stretched leisurely in his lap and his traitorous cock twitched. As much as he hated to, he was going to have to take care of that later. He hadn't jerked off in a month, the first two weeks needs being taken care of by Amber, usually more than once a day, then the next two weeks his dick was the last thing on his mind. But being at home and alone with her like this, he was responding to her, whether he liked it or not and Daryl hated his body for it. He couldn't risk getting hard tonight in his sleep and it upsetting her.

"I thought you said I should sleep..."she murmured, looking up at him as she blinked the drowsiness away.

"Yeah, a couple hours ago..."

Her head twisted around to look at the clock for a second to confirm what he said. "Well, shit..."

Daryl snickered at her, he thought it was funny when she cussed, like she was a little kid or something. "So, ya hungry?"

Amber shook her head. "Not really, you can fix you something. What I'd really like is to take a bath."

Daryl was quiet for a minute. He had successfully avoided helping with her baths in the hospital, even being in the room. Either Kaye or Debra had always helped the nurses while he went to smoke. And now he would have to help her, he hadn't considered that.

Amber must have seen the look on his face because her brow furrowed. "I can wait until mama or Kaye can come over, it's..."

"Naw, I got it. Ya sure you'll be alright...ya know..."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Daryl, please don't ask. I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't. It can wait if you..."

"I said it's alright. Now sit up so I can go run ya water." He pulled her up out of his lap, kissing the top of her head quickly as she sat up. He left her on the couch to go start her water in the bathroom and then went to get her clothes from the bedroom.

"What ya wanta wear?" he yelled, totally lost amongst the chest of drawers and the small closet that was full to bursting with varying shades of pink. He could fit every bit of clothes he had in one of the drawers, two at the most.

"Any body coming over?" she yelled back.

"Nah, I told'em ta wait an' let ya rest t'day."

"Tank top, second drawer down. Shorts are in the one below. Get knit ones since I have to pull them over the brace. Get me some panties too."

Shit, he forgot he would have to dig in her underwear drawer.

Daryl got the top first, grabbing that pink camo top he liked and then a pair of black gym shorts. Then he slid the underwear drawer open. Amber wasn't one to keep things like that neat so it was just a jumble of tiny scraps of fabric, the vast majority of which he had pulled down her legs in those days and nights they had together before...that. Daryl took a deep breath and rifled through them, trying to find the most modest pair he could. He finally found a pair of fuschia ones that looked like they actually had enough fabric to cover most of her ass and added them to the other clothes in his hand, then he had another thought.

Double shit.

"Ya need a...a bra?"

He thought he heard Amber snort before answering. "No, not if no ones coming over."

Daryl deposited the clothes in the bathroom, turned the water off and returned to the living room. Amber had turned to sit straight on the couch, her braced right leg next to the left. Daryl slipped the sling off and she sighed.

"Mama went and picked my wheelchair up yesterday. It's on the porch. Why don't you let me use it?"

"Cause ya ain't a fuckin cripple. Just need some help till ya get better." He slid his arms up under and lifted her easily.

"Your shoulder's never going to get better." Her arms automatically found their place around his neck as he walked her to the bathroom.

"Shoulder's fine. Ya weigh even less now than ya did before, gotta start eatin decent again."

"Yeah, the nurse said I lost fifteen pounds in the two weeks I was in there."

Daryl shook his head and sighed as he set her down on the side of the tub. Amber went to pull her tee over her head as he busied himself checking the water and setting out her soaps that Kaye had brought her. Anything to keep from looking at her body. Her bra joined her shirt on the floor next to the hamper.

"Okay, Desperado, your going to have to help me here."

"What?"

"I've got to stand up to get my bottoms off."

Daryl swallowed. "Oh, yeah." He wished he wasn't like this. He probably knew her body better than anybody, including her ex husband. He had kissed, bit, or licked every inch of skin just about. But this...this was like starting over. And the nerves he had this time weren't for himself, they were for her. He had showered with Amber, bathed with her, washed her body with his own hands, but now...now he had to keep it totally without sex, with no chance of upsetting her. "How ya wanna do this?"

"Just grab around my waist and help me stand on my good leg."

Daryl considered sitting on the side of the tub next to her to do it for about a half second, until he realized what that would put in front of his eyes when she stood. So he bent over her, doing his best to keep his eyes on the wall behind her head as he helped her up. Amber's weight loss was most evident in her stomach, her waist had been tiny before but now he could nearly span it with his hands. He made the mental note to make something she really liked for supper.

Amber leaned against his chest as she shimmied her yoga pants and panties down to the top of her brace. He had cut the seam of the pants out on the right leg from the ankle to the middle of her thigh with his knife that morning. She refused to wear shorts until she could shave her legs. Her breasts pressed against his bottom ribs, just above his stomach and he fought to keep his breathing normal.

"Alright, let me down. I gotta get my brace off."

He obliged, relieved until he squatted down in front of her to help with the brace. Despite keeping his eyes on what seemed to be a hundred velcro straps he had to undo to get her leg free of the contraption, Daryl caught a glimpse of the half inch long jet black curls where her thighs met. Having been used to her always being hairless there, he had forgotten it was even a possibility. But his mind was quickly occupied elsewhere when he removed the brace, putting it behind him for when she got out, and then removed the gauze the nurse used to pad her surgery incision. It started four inches above her knee, extending down the top of her leg to end in the middle of her shin. Despite being one day short of being exactly two weeks old, it still looked brutal. The wound was closed, the skin beginning to grow together, but the edges were still a dull red. It was evident that the scar would not be light or easily hidden, ever.

"I know, it's ugly." Amber had caught him staring. Her pubic hair was now not even on the radar.

"It is what it is, girl." He was holding fast to Norm's advice of not lying, it had sounded like the older man had learned his lesson the hard way and Daryl had no urge to do the same. "Means ya get ta walk again." He brought his hand up to the side of her face and she leaned into it for a second, her eyes sad. "C'mon, ya water's gonna get cold." Amber pushed her bottoms the rest of the way off, Daryl helping keep them clear of her incision. He moved to pivot her so he could lower her into the tub but she stopped him.

"Step out for a minute."

He frowned. "Ya ain't gettin in without my help, you'll fall."

Amber shook her head, her mouth a grim line of determination and something else as she looked up at him. Embarrassment?

"Daryl, look, I gotta pee, alright? And even I have my limits. The toilets close, the therapist taught me how to transfer over. You may have to help me bathe, but I'll be damned if you stand here while I use the bathroom. Now out."

He stood and pinched the bridge of his nose for a minute as he gathered his thoughts. That was yet another one of the thousand things he hadn't thought about, that they were going to have to figure out how to handle now that she was home. He turned and looked for himself, the toilet was only inches away from where she sat on the edge of the tub in the tiny mobile home bathroom. He was going to have to start letting her do things for herself if she was going to get better, even if it killed him to watch her struggle.

"A'ight. But I'm standin right out side and the door stays cracked. If it sounds like ya havin a hard time gettin moved I'm comin back in."

She nodded and a minute later he was out in the hall, listening as she moved herself over. Honestly, he thought she was making a big deal out of it. The first morning after they slept together in the truck he had walked around to the front to piss while she lay in the bed. That must be one of those weird man/woman differences. As soon as he heard the toilet flush he was around the corner of the door jam. Amber was sitting on the side of the tub where he left her, but the fact she was naked was no longer a concern. Her face was all he could see, she was beaming, a look of accomplishment over her features.

"I did it, see?!"

He shook his head and grinned. "Yeah, ya did. Now c'mon, yer waters gonna be like ice by the time ya get done."

He turned her and slowly lowered her into the water, careful to keep her bad leg propped up on the side of the tub. She immediately lay back and Daryl quickly turned and sat with his back against the tub at her elbow. Amber's fingers swept into his hair and he leaned into her touch, grateful to finally have a comfortable moment at home, such as it was. They stayed like that for a few minutes, her enjoying the water and him just enjoying her being close.

Finally, Amber sat up, struggling a bit because of the angle of her propped leg and he turned to take her arm. Daryl's fingers brushed the side of her breast as he helped her sit and his eyes shot up to hers, expecting to see fear or her to try to jerk away. Instead, she seemed to be intent on reaching for the washrag he had hung on the faucet, not noticing the contact. He noticed however, remembering suddenly just how firm they were in his hands and how the skin felt, especially when wet in the pond or shower. He turned his back to her again, blushing, ashamed of his thoughts even though they had come unbidden. For the first time in almost a month he felt dirty and wrong. Daryl sat there, head hanging as he worried his fidget band, listening to her wash until she spoke.

"Can you help me get my back?"

"Yeah."

He washed her back and then helped her with her hair, keeping his mind and eyes on what he was doing. Amber seemed more relaxed than she had since she woke up that night a little over a week ago. He sat down the cup he used to rinse her hair.

"A'ight, ya ready ta get out?"

"No, I need to shave."

Daryl grunted and rolled his eyes. "Ya don't need ta worry about that shit right now."

Amber shook her head, reaching for her razor where it sat in the corner of the tub. "Daryl, I've shaved since I was eleven years old. It may be optional for some women but not me. The hair on my legs is already driving me crazy."

He glanced down at the leg that lay on the side of the tub. The hair was black, just like everywhere else, but was so fine he had yet to really notice it until she said something.

"What the fuck ever, just don't get it near your stitches." Daryl finally huffed, turning back around. He was fine as she shaved under her arms, but then she scooted down a little in the tub and he felt her bad leg shift farther out on the side against his back. She was shaving THERE, which he hadn't expected. Thankfully, she was practiced and there wasn't much growth so he only had to sit there uncomfortably for a minute or two. Then she sat up straight and he could breathe again. Amber finished with her good leg and then did the top of her right one. She grunted as she strained to reach the bottom of it, the fact that she couldn't comfortably bend the knee keeping the bottom of her leg out of reach. Then she cursed and he knew she had cut herself. Daryl turned quickly and put his hand out.

"Give me the damn razor."

Amber shook her head and snatched it out of his reach. "No! I didn't cut myself close to my stitches. I can't leave it half done!"

She was starting to get on his damn nerves with this hair shit. "Give me the fuckin razor, I'll do it my damn self!"

Amber sat back a little in shock, smirking. "You're serious?"

"Fuck yeah."

Amber looked down at the razor for a second before handing it over. Daryl soaped up her leg, avoiding her incision. Then he felt her wet fingers touch his scruff and he jumped, nearly cutting her himself.

"You sure you've even used a razor before, Desperado?"

He smirked, glad to have the conversation to distract himself from the bigger picture of what he was doing while he focused on the specifics.

"Yes, girl. I've used a damn razor before. Used ta keep m'scruff a lot neater than what it is now."

"Why'd you stop?"

He shrugged as he rinsed the razor in the water below her leg. "Didn't care, I reckon. Didn't have a reason to." He turned to look at her face for a second. "Why, ya want me ta shave it?"

Amber suddenly looked horrified. "NO! I mean..." she fumbled for a minute and he couldn't help grinning at her. "if you WANTED to, it's up to you. But I like it the way it is." Daryl snorted, going back to his work, finishing up just around her ankle.

Ten minutes later they had gotten her dried and dressed somehow, clumsily between the two of them and he sat her on the counter so she could comb her hair out and put it up. Daryl suggested they go ahead and do her therapy exercises while her brace was off so they wouldn't have to remove her brace again later. She agreed and he carried her into the living room back to the couch.

The next fifteen minutes were harder on Daryl than her bath had been, in a totally opposite way. He almost couldn't do it, helping her flex her knee, knowing it hurt, watching her eyes well up. But when he would falter, Amber would almost get angry, demanding he keep it up. He finally settled on getting her to talk while they did it, distracting her the way she had unknowingly done him while he shaved her.

"What ya want for supper? We gotta get some weight back on ya."

"Promise you won't laugh?"

Daryl stopped his motion to look up at her. "Why the fuck would I laugh? Whatever ya want, now what is it?" He looked back down, suddenly and painfully aware of how soft and smooth the skin was under his hands. He needed to get in the shower himself, soon. Things were going well since she had come home, he couldn't ruin it.

"Squirrel."

He chuckled. "Quit shittin' me and tell me what ya want ta eat."

"See, you laughed."

"Because you're jokin. Now tell me what ya want."

"No, I'm not joking. I want pan fried squirrel, mashed potatoes and gravy, and greens. Like that night Merle was here."

"You mean the night me and you went and smoked dope down on the dock?"

"You said it, I didn't."

He laid her leg carefully back on the cushion below it and stood. "Hold on a minute, gotta get yore brace." He returned in a few seconds, sitting with her foot in his lap. Kaye had painted her toenails pink and he traced his fingertips over them for a second before looking up at her. "Move'em for me. Like your supposed'ta."

Amber grimaced but got them to wiggle, a bit better than the day before.

"Can ya feel all of 'em yet?"

She shook her head with a frown. "Still nothing on the smallest two. The doctor said I might not get them back." Philip had crushed her knee so badly that the nerves going to her lower leg and foot had been trapped between bone fragments until her surgery.

Daryl slid the brace up under her leg and frowned down at it as he concentrated on getting the right velcro sections through the right loops. "Doctor don't know everythin'. You'll get it back."

"Do I get squirrel for supper?"

Daryl fastened the last strap and sat back, propping his head on his hand as he sat his elbow on the back of the couch. "You're fucking serious?"

"Yes, I'm fucking serious, as you put it. I want squirrel."

Daryl just looked at her for a second. Even though he didn't believe in god, not the way her grandmother did anyway, this was one of those moments that made him feel as if Amber was made for him, to fit him. It couldn't be luck, because he just wasn't lucky.

"I love ya, ya know it?" He looked away right after saying it, his face growing hot. It was still a new feeling, those words falling from his mouth.

"I love you too." Amber said it so easily, yet earnestly that he was jealous.

He decided to take the subject back to supper. "Ain't got any squirrel in the freezer. I'd have ta leave ya alone for a bit. I could stay close though, in sight of the house. But if ya can't it's alright."

Amber thought for a bit, looking out the window behind the couch into the back yard. "Could you get enough for supper, staying that close?"

"Prob'ly. If not, I can at least get enough for you and fix me somethin else."

Amber frowned and shook her head at that idea. "Yeah. I'll be fine, it won't be dark for a long while. And if you'll put a bunch of potatoes in a big bowl and give me a knife I'll peel them while your gone, to keep me busy."

It didn't take Daryl long at all to do all of the above and grab the bow and his quiver. He had already taken out the arrows that had been in human flesh and set them to the side. For the rest of his life he would always keep food arrows and 'war' arrows separate. He bent over Amber as she worked on the potatoes in her seat on the couch, to kiss her on the cheek, and that's when it happened.

She looked up just as he bent over, and by the time he stopped himself, his lips were a quarter inch away from hers. He saw her flinch and went to move back slowly, not willing to scare her more, even as he cursed himself. But Amber dropped the knife into the bowl with a clatter to bring her hand up to his neck, stopping him.

"Stop, girl." he whispered, knowing what she was doing. Amber was pushing herself, just like she had all day. But this was too much too fast, could destroy what little bit of mental progress she had made in the last few hours.

"Shut up and be still." she whispered, so close that her breath fanned cool over his lips and he could smell the water that he knew she tasted like. Daryl was silent and couldn't move, even a slight nod would have closed the whispers distance between their mouths. He was going to go crazy if she didn't do SOMETHING, either pull back or move forward, one. Being this close was making his heart twist in his chest.

Amber took a deep breath and moved forward, so slow that when her lips finally contacted his, he wasn't sure for a second that they really had. But then the pressure increased a bit and his eyes slammed shut. It was like their first kiss all over again, despite being NOTHING like that first brutal hot meeting that had happened on the kitchen counter just to his right. He had fucked her ten ways to Sunday, but this kiss, the first real one since she was almost taken away forever, was as mind numbing as it was chaste. It was short, close mouthed, and awkward, the only places their bodies met being their lips and her hand on his neck. It was also so good that Daryl whimpered when she pulled away.

He dropped his forehead to hers and swallowed nervously as Amber smiled proudly.

"I did it, Desperado!"

"Yeah, baby girl. Ya did."

**Daryl shower smut in the next chapter!**


	48. Chapter 48

**Smut! Angst! Action! Fluff! Whew, this one hit all the bases I think! Let me know what ya think!**

Six squirrel was enough for supper, considering they were having mashed potatoes and gravy and greens to go with it. And Amber had been so good about everything he might let her sit on the counter to help him (god knew her gravy would be better than his). Daryl brought the six carcasses in after gutting but before skinning them to show her. Amber looked them over carefully and then asked him if he would save the skins and show her how to work and dry them, to give her something to keep her hands busy. Daryl hadn't even tried to keep the goofy grin off his face as he told her he would.

Made. For. Him.

He then sat on the front steps to skin them carefully, missing her presence on the step behind him. He sat the skins to the side on the screened in porch for them to mess with after supper and brought the meat in to set it in a pan he dug out of the cabinet. In his excitement he missed the fact that the bowl of peeled and sliced potatoes was sitting on the bar between the kitchen and living room, at least ten feet from where Amber sat on the couch. (If he had noticed it, the whole fray that ended up happening later could probably been avoided, at least in part.)

There was something Daryl needed to get done first, though, to make sure the rest of their evening and night went smoothly. He hated to think of it that way, but especially now that she had kissed him, it was getting more difficult to keep his body in check. If he hadn't had to stay within sight of the house he would have just went off into the woods and leaned up against a tree while he took care of himself, but that was out. He moved the squirrels into the fridge and then turned to Amber where she sat watching him.

"I'm gonna go jump in the shower, a'ight? I'll keep the door open."

"Okay, hand me my laptop out from under the bar."

Daryl grabbed the computer out from under the counter and gave it to her, leaning over as she opened it to kiss the top of her head. He didn't want her to push the kissing thing, that one was more than what he had been hoping for weeks from now. Norm had told him it had taken Kaye months to get back before, Amber looked to be fast tracking herself and it worried him despite how happy she was about it. Hell, it wasn't like he wasn't happy about it, but it was so fast she was going to end up starting over if he didn't keep her in check.

Daryl stripped in the bathroom to the sound of the shower running as it got hot. He was going to have to be quiet and quick about this. Considering the fact it was over two weeks since he got off, the quick part would be easy. The quiet part used to be too, until he met Amber and she did shit that had him nearly stripping his voice he was yelling so loud before she got done with him. By the time he was naked the steam was billowing out of the shower. Daryl went ahead and washed his hair and body first, that way all he would need would be quick rinse after the deed was done. Baby girl needed her supper. He smirked, she had been 'girl' to him from the beginning, and it had been a short leap from that to the name her 'aunt' and 'uncle' had for her.

Daryl paused for a minute after his hand circled his cock, which was already mostly hard, trying to pick one of the times they had been together to help him along. Yeah, the first time in the trailer, when he had chased her from the fire pit to inside, that had been some good shit. They didn't even make it to the bedroom, at least not the first time. Forget christening the couch, they had christened the whole goddamn living room...

_"GOTCHA!" _

_Daryl caught her right inside the front door and Amber squealed. He had two days until her grandparents got home from camp meeting and he intended to make full use of them before they had to keep their relationship, whatever the hell it was, under cover. He spun Amber around and picked her up to pin her between him and the wall, her ample ass filling his hands as he ground his cock against her. Her legs wrapped around his waist and his mouth moved from her lips and down her jaw to lick and bite at her neck. Fuckin HELL she tasted so damn good, he wondered if he would ever get his fill. She liked that biting shit. Well, honestly, Daryl liked that biting shit too, whether he was on the giving or receiving end. He just didn't know it until her._

_"Told you not to pick me up, your hand is banged up..." Amber gasped out._

_Daryl growled and bucked into her. "Ya want me ta stop?"_

_"Hell no, just wish we had less clothes on."_

_"Get yer fuckin shirt off then, my hands are full." He squeezed her ass hard to show her just how full they were and Amber moaned right before ripping her tank top off and throwing it over his shoulder. Daryl pulled back just long enough for it to come off then dove into her chest. She hadn't wore a bra the night before, but now she had on a pink one that pushed them up and together and that was damn hot. For about five seconds._

_"Bra too girl, I want them titties." He had more than a few beers in him, making his tongue a little loose. Fuck it, she liked it._

_Amber shoved her hands behind her back to undo her bra and sent it in the same direction as her shirt. He hitched her up against him until her legs were around his ribs instead of his waist, putting his face in heaven. He wouldn't EVER get tired of her tits, no matter how many times they fucked. They looked like something out of a magazine, but they were real, soft but firm at the same time, nothing plastic about them. He sucked one nipple in his mouth and she made that little squeal that he was already familiar with. Daryl sucked hard right off the bat, knowing now she liked it rough. Amber shuddered and ..._

Daryl stopped for a second and frowned. Something was wrong, it didn't feel right. It felt good, it was jacking off, but something wasn't like it should be. He smirked a second later when he figured it out. Damn woman had even changed the way he jerked off. He tightened up his grip on his already stone hard cock and shortened his stroke, letting his index finger slip over the head when he got there in the middle of every stroke. Amber was fuckin TIGHT,every damn time, and he filled her up, his head hitting the end of her when he plowed her good and hard like she liked. Daryl suddenly had to bite back a groan. Yeah, that was it, that was as close as his own hand was going to be able to get to how that sweet little pussy of hers felt. Now where was he...

_Amber shuddered and started pulling at his shirt._

_"Please, Daryl..."_

_He released her nipple with a wet pop. "Please what girl?" He started on the other breast, scraping his teeth across the peak just before he gave it the same treatment. Suddenly, he could smell her arousal and he groaned. Sure as the hell, him using his teeth on her like that had made her soak her panties she was so wet now, already fuckin READY for him. Amber was so damn responsive. He needed to get them both naked before he got a little too responsive himself and came in his jeans. Daryl let go of her nipple begrudgingly and slid her body down his, loving it as her titties moved down his chest. Her mouth met his as soon as they were close enough and then it was all that cool water taste on his tongue. She couldn't possibly taste like that all the time could she? Amber got his shirt unbuttoned enough and he pulled back to jerk it over his head with her help. She slipped her legs down from around him and he let her down, thinking she was going to go for his belt. He had already figured out the little hellcat had some kind of thing for belts or belt buckles or some shit, he just hadn't sussed out exactly what it was yet. When he did, they were going to have a little fun. She didn't immediately go for it this time though. Her mouth traced the tattoo over his heart a split second before she found his own nipple and returned the favor he had paid her moments before. That was one damn advantage of her being so little, she didn't even have to bend over to do that. One of his hands braced against the wall and the other wound itself in her hair. The second she let go he tugged her over to the other side. She laughed, "You like that, Desperado?"_

_"Fuck yeah, girl."_

_ Amber attacked this one and when she nipped it Daryl's hips bucked up against hers sharply, slamming her ass against the wall. She released him, finally going for the belt. She had it flipped open in a second, her eyes going wide when the buckle jingled. Then his button, the zipper and a little relief. She pushed against his waistband._

_"Off, now." she commanded._

_His hands joined in with hers. "Get yours, I got mine." he countered. This time wasn't about taking their time and undressing each other. Daryl just needed her naked and screaming his name as he pounded into her, as soon as possible. They both took a second to strip and then Daryl grabbed her and sat her on the couch, hitting his knees in front of her. He grabbed Amber under those curvy thighs of hers and jerked her ass to the edge. Daryl then hooked her knees over his elbows and took a bare second to align himself._

_"Girl,..." he started to warn her he wasn't about to take his time._

_"NOW DARYL!" she cut him off._

_Fuck warning her._

_He drove into her totally in one stroke. She was so tight...damn...oh, no, his balls were already tightening up..._

_"Aw, SHIT, GIRL..."_

_Amber reached up and pinched one of his nipples, hard. The tweak of pain was just enough to back him down._

_"How the fuck..."Daryl began, in awe._

_"Tell you later...you're welcome...now FUCK ME!"_

_Amber could play his body like a fiddle, and he'd hate to let her down. Daryl started pounding into her, and her back arched completely off the couch. One of her hands slid down her body toward her clit. Daryl stuck the pad of his thumb in his mouth for a second and then brought it down, reaching the prize before she did. He moved it in time with his thrusts and immediately felt more wet flood around his cock._

_"Oh, god, I'm gonna come SO HARD..." she moaned._

_"Ya fuckin BETTER, " he agreed, "Now get your hands on your titties, I got this." Daryl had already figured out that she came harder when her nipples were involved. And fuck it all, if he didn't like watching Amber do it herself when his hands were otherwise occupied._

Daryl sped his hand up, knowing he was close by the twitch in his balls. He leaned against the shower wall and brought his other hand down, to cup them. That was an 'Amber special' too. She never left them neglected, whether with her hands or her mouth, unless the position just didn't permit. He wondered if that's why he came so hard with her. Damn, he really didn't care as long as he did. The shower was beating against Daryl's chest and he had to shake his wet hair out of his eyes, his hands being busy. He was so close...

_She was starting to twitch around him, making that "oh, oh,oh" noise in time with the twitches. Daryl sped up his hand and cock, watching her as she pinched her own nipples. He was positive he was going to come hard himself. Amber's came out of nowhere, going from those twitches to her slamming down around him. It must have taken her by surprise too, because her eyes widened and she screamed as her back arched up again giving him just the perfect view and sound to go with the vise around his cock. He jerked and leaned forward, bucking into her so hard that the frame of the old couch creaked. Daryl couldn't make words, just roared over her as he convulsed, her body so tight that she would have pushed him out if he wasn't busy getting as deep as he could._

Daryl tugged downward on his balls as they jerked up, just like Amber did, and it nearly had him yelling her name. Instead he bit the inside of his lip bloody, as his seed jetted out hot and white across his muscled stomach, before being washed away by the steaming water. He jerked and pressed his forehead against the wall, his whole body feeling it, being so long after having her so often.

_Daryl slumped forward over her body, his head on her chest. Amber finally came to herself enough to run her hands through his hair that was now damp with sweat. She chuckled and then spoke, her voice low and husky._

_"We...are some dirty fuckers."_

_"Yup."_

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl had just pulled on his clean boxers and jeans when he heard it, at first be thought he was mistaken, but then he smelled it. He was through the bathroom door like a shot.

Amber was standing with her back to him, balanced on one foot in front of the stove, three different pans going at one time. Daryl was suddenly so damn angry, if she hadn't already been injured he would have taken her over his knee and whipped her ass, and not the way she liked either.

HOW FUCKIN DARE SHE!

Daryl had spent the last eight hours telling her to slow the hell down, stop pushing it, trying to keep her SAFE and THIS SHIT is how she repays him. She couldn't WAIT until he got in there? He'd BE DAMNED if she did this shit the whole time it took her to get better! The last week of frustration bubbled up and Daryl's blood burned. He stalked over to Amber, intending to give her a piece of his damn mind.

Then she did him one better than pissing him off.

She scared him.

Just before Daryl got to her, Amber lost her balance. She wobbled, and then overcorrected. Her arms flashed out and there was only one thing close enough for her panicked hands to grasp: the handle to the iron skillet that was full of squirrel and grease so hot it was nearly smoking. She was about to fall, pulling it down on her.

In that second, Daryl only saw one thing, Amber going over the edge of that roof all over again. This time it would be to third degree grease burns.

He reacted on pure instinct, no time for anything else. He grabbed around her waist and jerked her back. Her fingers actually brushed the handle of the skillet, but she loved cooking with cast iron and it saved them both from being burnt. The pan, a deep 'chicken fryer', was too heavy to flip that easily.

The second he had her out of harms way, Daryl picked her up and put her ass on the counter. He didn't hesitate to lay into her, the fear overriding all else.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Amber didn't flinch, didn't tear up. She had told him from the beginning that she wasn't scared of him, never would be. But being scared and being pissed are two very different emotions. She had begun to get the feeling that Daryl was babying her, and it had pissed her off a little when she thought about it. She had wanted to start supper not only out of stubborn independence, there had been a bit of rebellion mixed in too. Plus, now she had some extra adrenalin of her own to burn off.

What resulted would forever be known as "The day Amber almost got burned, and they both lost their shit."

"TRYING TO START SUPPER, THAT'S WHAT THE FUCK I'M DOING!" she yelled back.

Daryl spun around and turned off all the burners in one swift movement before whirling back around, smacking his hands loudly on the counter on either side of her hips. The position was familiar, it was his way of pinning her in place, but with none of the lust it held the last time he used it.

"THIS SHIT IS GONNA STOP! YOU GOT A GODDAMN DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING?"

"I'm tired of being treated like a baby!" Amber's voice dropped a little, trying to make it menacing like her father. She didn't quite make it.

"THEN QUIT ACTIN LIKE ONE! THIS IS THE FIRST DAMN DAY, YA AIN'T GOTTA PROVE NOTHIN!" Daryl had never felt like this before in his life, he was shaking he was so angry. He leaned in, his finger in her face as he yelled. Even so, a part of his brain was searching Amber's face for any signs of fear. It found none and was relieved. And a little scared of what it did find.

"I'm TRYING to get better!" she snarled, leaning in too until they were almost nose to nose.

"Then SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! Yer going too fast!"

Amber's eyes narrowed. " I'm. Not. Kaye." aha, there it was, the menacing.

Daryl cocked his head to the side. "The HELL ya mean by that?!"

"I KNOW you've been calling Norm, him telling you what to do!"

Daryl took a step back and removed his hands from the counter to run one over his face. His voice dropped a level from enraged to merely pissed. "Excuse the HELL out of ME for wantin ta do this shit RIGHT!"

"You do FINE when you do it on your OWN! Kaye went BATSHIT CRAZY the last time! I'm not HER!"

Daryl took a couple steps back to end up against the fridge, trying to put some distance between them. "What the fuck ya think this is? THIS IS BATSHIT CRAZY, JUST A DIFFERENT FLAVOR!"

Had this been before, they most probably would have ended with rough angry sex. Or, barring that, Daryl would have grabbed his bow to stalk out into the woods for a few hours, maybe overnight. But both of those were out.

So they tore the house apart.

Daryl's eyes widened and he ducked a split second before Amber's favorite coffee cup, the one painted with chickens that always sat on the counter where she now was, sailed through the air to explode against the fridge just to his right. He came up and took a step forward. "QUIT BEIN A BITCH!"

"Honey, I'm not A bitch, in this house I am THE bitch!"

Daryl closed the distance between them. "AND I'M YOUR FUCKIN OLD MAN SO YA GONNA DO WHAT I SAY!"

Amber's hand twitched up from the counter but Daryl blocked it easily, circling her wrist with his fingers. "Done told ya, do NOT hit me, GIRL!"

"Don't call me that!" she spat, just before rocking her head back to try to head butt him in the nose. But her time in the hospital had slowed her and Daryl turned his head to avoid the brunt of it, taking it on his cheekbone.

"THAT'S IT!" he roared. He picked her up from the counter and spun Amber around against him, planting her ass on his hip while circling her waist with his left arm. His right hand came down and grabbed the top of her brace, keeping her from kicking with it. She was already fighting, bucking against him and trying to claw at the arm around her waist.

"Put me DOWN, DAMMIT!" she hissed.

"NO! NOW QUIT FIGHTIN, YA GONNA HURT YA SELF!" Daryl started toward the back of the house.

"The only one who's gonna get hurt is YOU, IF YOU DON'T PUT ME DOWN!" she snarled.

Daryl snorted sarcastically. "Go ahead and TRY! Ya ain't tha bad bitch ya think ya are, ya actin like a LITTLE GIRL! AND I'M GONNA TREAT YA LIKE ONE, YA GOIN TO YA ROOM TILL YA CAN ACT RIGHT!" He had her in her bedroom by the time he stopped yelling. Amber found herself sat carefully but firmly on the bed and Daryl turned to walk out. He got one step outside the door into the hall and her clock that had been sitting on her nightstand hit him in the middle of his back. He froze, a growl coming from his chest. Then his body spun to the side and a fist went through the cheap paneling that lined the hall.

Daryl stood there for a second, chest heaving, before walking into the bedroom, eerily calm. He stood in front of Amber, arms crossed over his chest as she looked up at him with a glare.

"Ya wanna throw shit, fine then, throw shit." Daryl jerked open her nightstand, grabbed two objects and threw them on her bed. "There's ya camera and your music thang, break'em, g'head!" He left the room for a second and came back, his hands full."Here's ya laptop, the new phone ya daddy sent over, and ya video camera. Break it ALL!" He dumped it all on the bed beside her with a clatter, then leaned over her. "But I tell ya this much, girl. I didn't hang over tha side of that roof just so ya could do this shit. I didn't burn that motherfucker ta death with a damn blowtorch just so ya could come home and hurt YASELF, and I sure as FUCK didn't tell ya what my daddy did just so ya could start lookin for new ways for me ta lose ya. Now ya sit your ass in here and THINK about THAT! I'm gonna go finish supper, and when it's done, ya gonna EAT!"

Daryl turned on his heels and walked out, slamming the bedroom door behind him. He went directly to the fridge and jerked out a beer, opening it to half kill it before taking a breath. Then he lit a cigarette with trembling hands, leaning over the counter on his elbows, head in his hands for a few minutes as his breathing and thudding pulse returned to normal. He turned the stove eyes back on and finished their supper that she had halfway done when he came out of the bathroom.

By the time he was plating up her food, the late afternoon shadows were lengthening towards night and he knew Amber would be needing him soon. While walking toward the bedroom with her plate, Daryl paused just beside the back door, looking out into the yard before stepping out. He returned a second later and sighed, looking down at the plate. Either it was going to help, or she was going to throw it back in his face.

When he opened the bedroom door, all her things that he had thrown on the bed were piled up neatly at the foot. Amber was laying on her side, facing the door. One pillow was between her knees, the way the therapist taught her to lay, to keep her brace off her other leg. The other, the one he used, was clutched in her arms, her face buried in it. She heard him when he stepped through the door and her head lifted. Surprising to Daryl, she didn't look like she had been crying. Amber looked up at him, her gaze careful and guarded as she tucked the pillow behind her.

"Ready ta eat?" he asked quietly, putting the plate on the bed in front of her. Amber nodded, picking up the tiny blue wildflower that was sitting on top. She brought it to her face for a moment, looking at it closely before tucking it next to her body on the bed. Daryl relaxed a bit, knowing that at least his peace offering had been accepted. Amber picked up the fork then, and glanced up at Daryl where he leaned in the doorframe, thumbs hooked in his pockets.

"You gonna eat too?" she asked.

"I reckon.

"Where?"

Daryl shrugged. "Up ta you."

Amber took a bite of her potatoes and swallowed before answering. "In here?"

"If that's what ya want."

"Yeah."

Daryl went to fix his own plate and when he returned Amber had scooted herself back towards the wall behind her, making room for him. He lay down facing her, propped up on his elbow, their plates between them as they ate in silence for a bit. Amber was the one who finally spoke.

"Food's good. Thank you for getting the squirrel."

Daryl looked at her for a minute and then shrugged, looking back down at his plate. "Weren't nothin. My gravy's lumpy."

Amber smirked before growing serious again. "I didn't do it to make you mad."

Daryl laid his fork down, but didn't look at her. "Scared me mostly."

"Thank you."

"For what, screamin and cussin at ya?"

"For caring. For taking care of me. I'm not used to it, besides Daddy or Norm. I'm used to doing things myself."

Daryl picked up their empty plates, setting them on the night stand behind him. Amber handed him the flower after looking at it for a minute, telling him to be careful with it. He laid it on the nightstand gently, loving how she acted like the little blue piece of under brush was really something, just because he gave it to her. He scooted close, picking up her bad leg carefully to lay it over his, the bottom halves of their bodies lying together for the first time in weeks. Amber burrowed into his chest and he chuckled.

"Ya just like a little squirrel, ya know that."

Her voice wafted up from his skin. "Don't put an arrow in my ass."

"Too pretty for that."

She brought her hand up to trace the tattoo over his heart. "We've got to figure out how to do this."

Daryl nodded, kissing the top of her head, letting the smell of rain calm his frazzled nerves. "Guess we both gotta give a little. I'll quit bitchin' when ya do new shit." he sighed "speakin of, I'm...s'rry I called ya a bitch."

"You've called me one before."

"Not meaning it like that."

"I'm sorry I scared you. I won't try something new unless you're there."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'm not tired enough to go to sleep."

"Me neither. We need ta get ya a tv down here, now that ya got time ta watch one."

Amber pulled back to look up at him. "I can download a movie on my laptop."

Daryl looked down at her with his eyebrow cocked and she laughed.

"Desperado, it's the year twenty thirteen, you need to get out of the woods more often."

That's how he ended up spending the next two hours, wrapped around Amber from behind, (he crawled over her while the movie downloaded) watching an action film over the top of her head. He really wasn't interested in it at first, content to just be with her in his arms, but by the end he was intent as she was. Those Irish fuckers knew how to raise some hell, the Demons could take a few lessons from them.

When the movie ended, it was totally dark outside, the only light from the moon and the laptop. She shut it off and then Daryl could only make out the barest outline of her body in front of him. Amber slid the computer over to the nightstand.

"Ya want me ta sleep in fronta ya or behind ya t'night?" Daryl asked, yawning.

"Behind me." she waited a second. "You know how you said you would let me try new things, as long as you were with me?"

Daryl dropped a kiss on her cheek, settling in for the night. "Yeah."

Amber nodded and then her hands went to the hem of her shirt, pulling at it. "I need to feel you against me...I think it'll help."

He tensed, everything in him telling him to stop her, that she couldn't do this yet, couldn't lay topless with him and possibly be alright come morning. But then he forced his hands to cover hers, helping pull the fabric over her head as he was thankful it was a new moon outside and nearly completely dark. He said he would give, that included letting her take risks. Amber went to throw the shirt in the floor but Daryl caught it, tucking it under his pillow.

"Keep it close, just in case."

Amber nodded and Daryl circled her waist with his arm, able to bring his hand back around to his own body even more easily now. He pressed her to him, making sure every bit of her skin from her hips to her head was in contact with his. It was the only weapon that he had against the things that they both knew would attack her before morning.

"Go ta sleep. Yer cookin breakfast in the mornin, been nearly three weeks since I had any of yore biscuits."

Amber nodded and lay her arm over his on her stomach. "I love you. Good night."

"Love ya too, baby girl."

Daryl might not could fight Amber's fight for her, but he sure as hell could keep her from going on the battlefield alone.


	49. Chapter 49

**YAY! Kaye and Norm Chapter! For those of you who aren't reading this story's spin-off 'Home Sweet Home' by SOA loving mom (what, you mean you really aren't? Get your ass over there and get to reading, soldier!) here is a little backstory for this chapter. Kaye was a product of rape. Her mother was married, while pregnant, by Ernie 'Mad Dog' Elder, previous Demon president. He raised Kaye as his own. She was always told the identity of her mother's rapist was unknown. That was a lie. Her biological father was Viktor Blake, then president of Le Mechant and Philip Blake's father. The man who raped Amber in front of Kaye was her half brother. When Kaye and Norm got together, her father told him the truth, swearing him to secrecy because the truth would only hurt his daughter. The only other person who knew was Barry. Now that Philip is dead (by Dixon hands) all his estate was willed to Kaye. She lost it when she learned the truth and went to Atlanta, hiring a lawyer (a one Andrea Moss) to divide the money between several charities, the club, and a large portion to Amber and Daryl to help with her recovery and to restart their life together. That's going to be it's own problem, do you really think they are going to want the money of her rapist? Then Kaye went to the clubhouse to drink. Carol texted Norm to let him know, which catches us **

**I don't own 'You Lie' by The Band Perry**

**Also, this chapter would probably been up last night but SOMEBODY had to post a chapter of smut with freakin erotic asphyxiation and I got distracted (*ahem, Kaye*) She requested this chapter end up in one of the side rooms but I think I did her and Country!Kaye one better.**

**Enjoy and review please!**

When Norm got out, he could hear the music blasting all the way in the parking lot, one of those country groups Amber had been getting her daddy to put into the sound system along with the old rock stuff that usual played. He stood in the door for just a moment, watching Kaye.

She sat at the middle of the bar, a bottle of liquor and a highball glass in front of her. She went to refill her glass and from the way the lip of the bottle kept hitting the rim he knew she was drunk. Which meant she had drunk a hell of alot, Kaye Black could hold her liquor. After a minute, she looked up and saw him in the mirror behind the bar, and she whirled around on her stool none too steadily.

"Well, there he is, THE MAN OF THE MOTHER FUCKING HOUR!"

Norm winced, he could tell from her tone and language that nothing was any better than it had been yesterday. But come hell or high water, it was going to be fixed before either of them left this building, even if they had to spend the night. He walked slowly up to where she sat at the bar, arms crossed across his broad chest.

"Baby, why don't ya cut the music off so we can talk?" Norm yelled over the music.

Kaye's eyes flashed pure fire, looking like molten gold. In another setting it would have made him hard as a rock, but with the way things were going, it had his nuts drawing up in self defense.

"Baby? BABY?" she yelled back. "No, BABY! I AIN'T TURNING THE MUSIC OFF. I think baby girl has the right idea, between the music and this Tennessee Honey shit. I think this should be our new song, don't you, BABY?"

The song flipped over to the chorus and Kaye began to sing along, or at least rasp along in her best voice as she mouthed the lyrics.

_You lie like a priceless persian rug on a rich man's floor_

_Well, you lie like a coon dog basking in the sunshine on my front porch_

_Well, you lie like a penny in the parking lot of the grocery store_

_It comes just way too natural to you_

_The way you lie_

Norm set his lips in a grim line, determined to let her get this out without losing his shit. It was almost painful for him to watch her to try to use her voice to sing. Then the song got to the last verse.

_Then I'm gonna slip off the ring you put on my finger_

_And give it a big ole fling..._

Kaye's eyebrows shot up when she got to that part and she held up her left hand in front of Norm, making sure he watched her slip off her wedding band. She slammed it on the bar in front of him with a flourish.

"Go ahead." he said over the music, "Ya can't take off the other."

Kaye looked down at her left hand at Norm's name, and the name of the demon Arioch (which was also on both their backs) tattooed around her ring finger, over which her wedding band had sat for twenty years. She shrugged, "Could always cut it off, match my face..."

Norm's head rocked back as if she had slapped him. He waited for the song to finish, but it just started back up, she had it on repeat.

"Turn off the music, Kayla. Or I will."

She shook her head, taking another drink as she held up the remote. Norm tried to take it but she quickly put it in her pocket. He took a deep breath, knowing if he tried to take it again she would swing at him.

"Last chance. Turn. It. Off. "

Kaye leaned in and grinned coldly. "Fuck you, Black."

Norm pulled his Desert Eagle from the the back of his waistband and pointed it at the sound system without breaking eye contact with his wife. He pulled the trigger and the roar silenced the music.

Kaye sat back in her chair and eyed him coolly. "Barry will have your ass. He just had that installed."

"Fuck Barry." Norm growled back.

Kaye chuckled and wiggled her finger in her husband's face.

"You probably do, considering he's the only person you don't lie to. Tell me, is he as good as Debbie says?"

Norm slammed his hand down on the bar. "ENOUGH KAYLA! TALK TO ME, THIS ISN'T YOU!"

"WHO AM I, NORM? HUH? I'M THE DAUGHTER OF LE GRANDE SERPENT DE LA NOUVELLE-ORLEANS, THE MOST EVIL LE MECHANT TO EVER LIVE." Kaye's voice broke on he last word and she began coughing and wheezing. She had strained her voice to it's limit with her screaming. Norm automatically reached out to her but she slapped his hands away and turned to take a drink.

"No, baby, no, you're the daughter of Mad Dog Elder, the greatest president the Demons have ever had." Norm pled, reaching out his hands to her.

Kaye shook her head franticly as the tears began to stream down her face. She swallowed and spoke, her voice a harsh rasp "I'm the sister of Philip Blake, Le moindre de la Nouvelle-Orleans. The man who raped and maimed baby girl in front of me." She reached up and pulled the bandage from her face, pointing to the mirror behind the bar. "And now I really am a part of the family." She turned so that the wound on her face fully faced the mirror. "I'm a monster too..."

"NO!" Norm screamed, flinging the near empty bottle in the mirror, shattering it. He turned to his wife, who still looked blankly behind the bar. He knew that look, he was losing her again. He grabbed Kaye by the shoulders, turning her to face him abruptly.

"Stop this, baby! Please! Since when has blood mattered?! Huh?! All the people who meet in this building," he flung his arm out around them "we call each other brother and sister. Baby girl ain't blood, but we're her aunt and uncle..." Norm trailed off, Kaye was still staring straight ahead with a glazed expression. Tears began to run down his own cheeks as he dropped his forehead to hers. She didn't look up, didn't flinch. But she did begin to mutter to herself. "I'm a monster" over and over again.

"Please...please..." Norm wept, begging her to come back to him. After a few seconds he shook his head slowly.

"No, baby, you're not the monster. I am. For lying to ya..."

Norm dug in his pocket, his eyes never leaving her's even though Kaye's were looking through him. He pulled out his black switchblade and flicked open the blade with a sharp click. "I'm the one that deserves to be marked, not you." Norm leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Kaye's stitches. She didn't even blink. He then positioned the tip of his blade against the edge of his left eye, mirroring the place where her wound began. "I know it won't take your's baby, but I deserve mine, you don't.." The tip of the blade pressed in and blood began to well up under it. Norm didn't flinch, just looked into molten gold, and said softly "I'm SO sorry..." He began to draw the blade down, blood running in a stream down the side of his face.

"no..." Kaye croaked out, her hand flashing up to knock the switchblade from his face and clattering away on the clubhouse floor. Norm stood before her for a single second, breath so constricted that it whistled out of his chest. Tears met blood on his cheek, to run thin and red covering his scruff on that side. Then he wavered and fell to his knees, his head wallowing in her lap.

"I'm sorry...I'm SO sorry...please...PLEASE..."

A Demon knelt at the only altar that had ever mattered to him, begging his angel for salvation.

"Oh god...Norm...baby..."Kaye whispered, suddenly come alive at his self mutilation. Her hands pressed to his temple, coming away sticky with his blood offering. "No...no baby..." She reached over the bar, grabbing a hand full of napkins, pushing them to his wound. Norm ignored everything except his repentance, begging her to forgive him.

"Shhh...Shhhh...baby, stop...we've gotta get this to quit bleeding..." Kaye tried to pull his head from her lap but he refused.

"No...no...I don't care...just forgive me...just tell me ya love me again..." Norm's head rocked in her lap, soaking her jeans. Kaye reached over the bar, grabbing a bottle of vodka to wet another handful of napkins. After twenty years married to a Demon, Kaye had treated her share of knife wounds.

"Norm...please baby...I never STOPPED loving you..."

At her words he looked up, his eyes pleading, face smeared with his blood. "Oh fuck, Kayla...I love you so much."

"I know...I know...I love you too...get up...GET UP!" She couldn't stand the sight of his sacrifice anymore. Norm stood to his feet and she pushed him to sit on the stool just behind him. She pressed the vodka soaked napkins to the cut and he winced. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...gotta get something on it..." she soothed.

Neither realized how they were reenacting the moment they were reunited in the office building, with the roles reversed.

Kaye cleaned the wound with the vodka, and then ran to the bathroom to return with a water soaked washcloth to clean his face. She painstakingly washed the blood even out of his scruff. Norm just pressed the napkins to the side of his face, constantly searching her eyes, as if afraid she would renege on her declaration of love. Once his face was clean Kaye grabbed the big first aid kit from behind the bar.

When she peeled the napkins away carefully, she gasped and closed her eyes for a second when the wound came into view. It was only an inch long, she had stopped him before he went further. But it was deep, to the bone, grey white flashing through the separated muscle. It was clear Norm had intended for his scar to be much worse than his wife's. She butterflied the wound for the moment.

"Baby, it's gonna need stitches..." she breathed, wiping her bloody hands on the rag Carol kept behind the bar. Norm just shrugged.

"Don't care..." he murmured.

She looked at him. "I do."

Norm's hand found the unmarked side of her face and then the other one came up to press just behind her stitches. "I did what ya told me to..." he whispered.

Kaye's brow furrowed. "What?"

"I came to the clubhouse and found me a sweet pretty girl."

She shook her head but he stopped her.

"Problem is," Norm continued, speaking as if he feared being rejected. "I want to kiss her, and she might not be ready for me to."

Kaye looked at him and swallowed hard before leaning forward in his hands, their lips meeting for the first time in weeks. His breath whistled out of his chest again, tears running hot down both their cheeks, mingling for a love offering. He started to pull away after a second but her hands came up to his shoulders stilling his body. Her mouth pressed deeper into his and Norm groaned, his body betraying his attempt at restraint.

Kaye pulled on his shoulders until he slipped from the stool and stood between her outstretched knees, their lips still together. Then her's parted and the tip of her tongue went to trace his lower lip. He opened his mouth and let her control the kiss, a rare occurrence but he was willing to give whatever he had to. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, finding the familiar smoke and liquor that still intoxicated her after all that time. He met her, matched her, but did not press for more. Norm's hands did not stray from her face, they didn't dare. What she had already given him was far and away more than what he had begged for. But her's slipped down to smooth over the planes of his chest and she sighed, finding home. They then ventured further, down to tug the hem of his shirt out of his jeans.

"Kaye," he gasped out in surprise, hands leaving her face to stop her. "ya ain't gotta..."

"Hush," she shook her head, "just...hush Norm. For once, just let me TAKE what I need."

He removed his hands from hers and then seemed momentarily lost as to where to put them. But then she pulled his shirt up and he had to raise his arms to let her pull it off. Kaye threw it down and then tore off her own.

Norm looked down and groaned. She was wearing the black lace bra that was his favorite. He had been married to her for twenty years, yet he stood here trembling, almost ready to come in his pants like a sixteen year old virgin. Kaye almost never took charge during sex, especially for the last ten years.

She looked up at him, "Undo my bra, Norm." This was a command, not a request. His hands were shaking but he finally got the clasp undone. She slid the straps down her arms, letting the cups fall last. He groaned when her breast came fully into view and his mouth watered so much he had to swallow. Kaye snagged his hands, which had fell dumb as soon as her bra left her body, and moved them to cup her flesh. His fingers twitched but didn't tighten. Norm's eyes came up to meet hers.

"Ya sure, baby?"

Kayenodded, tightening her hands over his. He felt her nipples become pebbles under his palms as she moaned. "God, I miss you so bad. If you want me, show me, Norm. This is your chance."

He wouldn't need another one. His hands squeezed her breast for a second but then moved down to her waist. He stepped further into the v of her knees and dipped his hips just enough before sliding her forward off the stool. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he straightened up. Norm moved out from the bar as his head dipped to kiss and lick her neck. Kaye wound her arms over his shoulders and tilted her head back to give him better access as she ground her core against the member that was already straining at his fly. She was so absorbed in his actions that she didn't realize where he was headed until he kicked in the door to the meeting room.

Kaye's head snapped up, eyes wide with shock. "Norm, what...I'm not supposed to be in here uninvited."

"Consider yourself invited by the sergeant at arms." he growled against her neck, just before setting her on the meeting table.

She looked up at him in the darkness. "Here?"

Norm nodded. "I'm showing ya I love you more than this club. The lie started here, it's gonna end right here."

She nodded up at him and then sat forward, hands going to his wide black leather belt, just like all the ones he had worn as long as she knew him. It was flipped open in seconds, then the button and zipper were opened. He kept his hands at his sides just watching her until she pushed the waistband of his pants and boxers down to his hips. Then Norm reached down as she lay back on the table, pushing his jeans the rest of the way off and toeing off his boots. He looked down on his wife as she shimmied out of her own pants, having lost her black flats somewhere between the bar and there. When she lay before him naked, he breathed out, "Fuck baby, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Kaye shook her head, her eyes leaving his.

"No!" He climbed up on the table and then to her. "You listen, Kayla Black. If you tell me no or look away again when I say something, I'll stop this, here and now. You said you need to take, so I'm letting you take. But I'm gonna take something too, my wife, even the parts that have been lost for the last ten years." He settled between her legs and they cradled him, Kaye expecting him to thrust into her. But his arm, the one bearing her name, came up under her waist as he looked beyond her head. He adjusted their position, and then quickly flipped them so that he was on his back with her straddling his waist.

Kaye looked up then and saw what he had adjusted them to. They were now aligned with Norm's chair, the one just to the left of Barry's. It's pine back poked up above the side of the table a couple feet beyond his head. She looked down at him and he brushed an errant curl out of her face as he spoke. "Ever time I sit in that chair, ever time I vote on something, I want to see your beautiful face, what we're doing. I want it to remind me that the decisions made in this room affect you, affect US. That you come first." Kaye looked down at him and then her eyes shut as her face scrunched up in emotion. Norm's hands slid over her hips after a second and she looked back down at him, her broken Demon.

"Listen, Kayla." he instructed, "I want ya to grab hold of the back of my chair." She looked up at his seat in confusion. It was too far away, she couldn't reach. But then his grip tightened on her hips and her knees left the table. She only let out a harsh rasp (it would have been a yelp had she not stripped her voice) as he lifted her up and over his body with a grunt. Norm Black wasn't as young as he used to be, but he was still young ENOUGH. Kaye tilted forward and her hands found the rough pine of the back of his chair as he lowered her. Her knees were on either side of his head, her core over his mouth. Norm moved his hands to cup her ass from behind but didn't pull her down that last inch to his waiting lips and tongue. Even in this, he was going to give her control.

She took it gladly. All Kaye had to feel was Norm's hot breath fan the black curls before him and her back arched, bringing her wet down to contact his mouth. He brought his tongue to her clit, her wide spread knees already opening her well for his work. He circled it and she keened in her throat, hips stuttering down to ride his face. Norm growled appreciatively when a surge of her flooded his mouth as he worked her. He would never get tired of his angel's taste. His tongue traced down and entered her, savoring the feel of what he knew fit his cock perfectly. He was the only man alive who knew what that felt like, he had made sure with his own hands.

Kaye threw her head back above him and moaned roughly. He grinned against her, knowing what his girl needed. His tongue moved back up as his hand slid up her thigh. He entered her with two fingers just as his tongue made contact with the swollen bundle of nerves. She began to ride him in earnest now, her voice rasping above him, music to his ears because it was her, his beautiful angel. He flicked his tongue over her clit firmly, time for teasing over.

Kaye exploded above him, body jittering against his face as he drank her down, greedy for what was his. Norm brought the hand that wasn't working her back and popped her ass sharply, daring to do something he hadn't in over ten years. He was rewarded with what would have been a scream, and her jerking against him. He didn't stop his mouth or soaked hand until she slumped over him, supported only by his chair.

Norm picked her back up enough to sit her on his chest and then slid her the rest of the way down, relishing the feeling of her wet sliding across his skin. He wiped his face with his hand just before she attacked his mouth, her tongue feeling out every inch. He smirked, knowing what she was doing.

"See how good ya taste, baby?" He murmured when she pulled back. "Every bit of ya tastes that good." He was telling the truth, he had had her mouth, her pussy, her skin, even her breast milk when she had been nursing his kids. It was all sweet as honey, just like his angel. Kaye nodded, looking down at him for a second with a small smile before lifting one knee, preparing to roll over on her back. Norm's hand shot out to her hip and he shook his head.

"Nope. YOU are gonna fuck ME this time, ya gonna take what ya need. And I'm gonna watch my beautiful angel."

Kaye's eyes narrowed and she swallowed, scooting down until she hovered over his cock that jerked in time with his pulse. She didn't give him time to prepare, just slid down on him until her body was flush with his. Norm's eyes rolled back in his head and he whimpered under her, not of a mind to be embarrassed. All he felt was her around him, warm and wet like the melted gold of her eyes had dripped down further, encasing him in her heaven. He held his breath, waiting for her to move, until he couldn't wait any more. His eyes snapped open, looking up at her pleadingly as she sat on him, looking for all the world like a queen on her throne. Her eyes met his and what he saw there scared him a little.

"Please...move, baby...I'm gonna die if ya don't..." he begged.

Kaye leaned forward until her face was inches from his. She smiled sweetly and then her face hardened. "Are you ever going to lie to me again, Norm Black?"

He shook his head. " No, I swear to God. I swear on our fuckin' KIDS, Kayla. Never again!"

She nodded slowly and he squirmed under her, trying to find friction. Her hand slammed down on the table next to his head and he froze. "Stop fucking MOVING!" she hissed.

Norm nodded, completely at her whim.

"Is there ANYTHING else you haven't told me?!" she demanded, the harshness of her broken voice making her sound even more menacing, yet torturing Norm with it's huskiness somehow.

"No. NO! I swear...nothing, NOTHING! Now please...Kayla please...you're killing me..."

"I DID think about it." she admitted as she sat back up. Just the change in angle had Norm making noises that he knew made him sound like a little bitch. He didn't fucking care, he just needed her to start riding him before his brain and dick had a race to see which one could explode first. Kaye waited for a moment, smirking evilly at the pitiful look on his face before beginning to grind against him.

She set a slow rhythm and he didn't ask for more, afraid she would stop totally if he did. He moaned below her and his eyes slammed shut.

"You like that?" she asked and he nodded, incapable of speech. "You nearly lost it forever Norm. Remember that, every time you sit in that seat, every time a meeting is called to order." He would, every time he even entered that room. Kaye sped up a bit and snagged his hand with hers. Norm went to entwine her fingers with his but she twisted them away, shoving his hand between her legs instead.

"Do your job, Demon!" she ordered.

He didn't dare disobey. He rubbed his finger over her clit as she rode him, matching her rhythm, desperate to feel her come around him. Kaye shuddered above him, her facade of authority cracking. She regained it a moment later.

"Open your eyes. Watch me."

He forced his eyes open, and nearly lost his load a second later. She had her hands on her own body, sliding them over her skin, up into her hair. His free hand came up to join hers but she pushed it away to sit on her hip.

"No, I'm doing it."

She licked the tips of her thumbs just before cupping her own breasts, sliding the slickened pads over her nipples. They hardened immediately and Norm's mouth watered, knowing exactly what they tasted like. She arched her back as she rode him, tossing her raven locks back as he looked up in awe, nearly in tears. She was doing things he had taught her in the first years of their marriage, things that he had accepted as lost forever after she was taken the first time.

Kayla Marie Elder Black was back, one hundred and ten percent.

She sped her hips up and Norm felt her pulse around him. His own release was dangerously close.

"Don't you dare come before I do Norm. You'll regret it." she warned, still moving her fingers over her own body. He shook his head.

"Won't," Norm croaked out, "I promise..." He willed himself back, concentrating on her, perfecting the rhythm of his fingers as they worked just above where they were joined. Finally, a few seconds later, she began to tighten up around him and hum deeply in her chest. He sped his hand up, desperate to push her over the cliff. His eyes never left hers as she began to ride him hard, jolting the table under them.

Then her back arched sharply and her mouth fell open in a silent scream, eyes closing. Her walls crashed down and Norm nearly bit through his own lip trying to hold on for a second longer, wanting to take her all the way through but her heat increased and he was gone.

"God DAMN, KAYE!" he roared as his hips bucked up off the table so hard that her knees left the wood under them for a moment. His ass fell back down and she was jostled on top of him, the sharp movement driving him deeper to bring them both another level higher. Norm convulsed beneath her soundlessly as she bowed and clawed at his chest.

He came to himself with her laying on him, her black curls wild across his chest. He wrapped his arms around her hesitantly, afraid she would push him away, even after what they had just done. But she sighed contentedly and he tightened his grip, kissing the top of her head and repeating what he said to her after their very first time. He meant it more now than he did then.

"Thank you, baby...thank you so much..."

She came up on her elbow to look up at him with half lidded eyes. Norm asked seriously, "This mean we're good?"

Kaye shook her head slowly and his heart ripped in two. "We're not good yet, but we will be. There's a lot of hard work we have to do to get there."

He was able to breathe again when she said that. Norman Marcus Black was no stranger to hard work, and the payday was going to be well worth every drop of sweat.

**The French**

**Viktor Blake's title: The Great Snake of New Orleans**

**Philip Blake's title: The Monster of New Orleans**


	50. Chapter 50

**Back to Amber and Daryl! Thank you a for your reviews!**

**I got one of the best gifts ever! SOA loving mom made a VIDEO to go with this story, to 'Desperado'. It is beautiful, make you cry incredible type of stuff! She used Amy Lee from Evanescence for Amber and some of the footage she found is so 'Country' it's unbelievable! She put it on the Reedus Renegades section on YouTube. You should be able to find it if you search Daryl Dixon:Country. It is...I just don't have the words...please check it out and comment on it!**

Two days had passed since Amber and Daryl's fight. They were slowly feeling their way through how to live together while she recuperated. She received several visitors from her grandparents church, older women mostly. They had just been finishing up their breakfast when the group knocked on the door, led by Roxie who had walked up with them from the big house. Daryl had to scramble to put his shirt on before opening the door and was obviously uncomfortable as the group of grannies filed in, all immediately fussing over Amber where she sat on the couch. She was in her element though, having been raised around the church just as much as the clubhouse. She just grinned at him around the sea of silver buns and bouffant hairdos, urging him to go out to the woods for a while, get out for a bit since she had so much 'help'. He tried his best to give her a thankful look as he slipped on his boots by the door and grabbed his bow. But then he glanced back at her as he was about to step out the door and stopped. Amber was looking at him expectantly, an eyebrow raised.

_I dare you, Desperado. _

He gave a tight lipped look back and mentally kicked himself in the ass. He had killed how many men to get her back and now couldn't give her a quick kiss before he left because of some little Pentecostal grannies? He really needed to go back and find his nuts, because he must have lost them somewhere. So Daryl squared his shoulder and took a deep breath before slipping through the throng of long skirts to bend quickly over Amber, hand cupping the back of her head as she offered up her cheek with a grin. He kissed her quickly and then looked over at Roxie as he blushed furiously. The old woman just smiled approvingly, not what he was expecting.

"Y'all gonna be here for at least an hour?" he asked quietly.

"I'll stay until whenever you get back, even if the others have to leave. Go on, son, you need a break."

Daryl nodded and gave Amber another kiss, this one on the top of her head before leaving. He went into the woods back behind the trailer instead of to the left like usual. Amber had told him there was an old homestead on the property back here some where but he just wanted to go somewhere he hadn't covered so he had to concentrate on what he was doing instead of pain, or nightmares, his own or Amber's. But he missed her, wanted her out here with him. Wanted her able to walk out here with him under her own power, so he could show her stuff, show off with the bow a little, just goddamn NORMAL shit they didn't get the chance to do before she got hurt.

Daryl wasn't really looking to bag any meat but the rabbit came out of nowhere. The bow was up and the trigger pulled out of pure habit. He unwound his kill string from the butt of the bow and strung up the carcass, throwing it over his shoulder. He winced a little at the motion, his shoulder firing a jolt of pain down his upper arm. The sling sat on her nightstand, Daryl had planned to put it on after breakfast but the visitors had interrupted. He rolled his eyes, scoffing silently.

They were probably there in the living room, doing all they praying and oil shit. Amber would let them, out of respect, but it was a good damn thing he wasn't there. He would tell them a damn lot of good all that praying did a couple weeks ago. It didn't fuckin protect her, now did it? It didn't keep her from having to have her knee replaced or having to be sewn back together somewhere that no man but HIM had a right to touch, and NO ONE had the right to hurt. Daryl kicked a piece of rotted log, splitting it apart and sending the largest piece flying. That's why he couldn't believe in that. Daryl believed in HER. He believed in the hard work of his own hands. He believed in sweat, his arrows, and his knife.

Daryl took another rabbit a half an hour later, after just walking for a while, trying to straighten out his head before he went back to Amber. Even though they had cleared things after their fight, gotten their shit together again, it was good to be out here. He was out deep now, farther than he had ever walked the acreage and was starting to wonder if he had missed the homestead, having maybe been off on his direction a little and bypassed it. But he was stringing up the second rabbit, looked up and saw a flash of white through the trees. Daryl followed it and stepped out into a clearing, with an old house sitting in the middle. What looked like some magnolias had nearly overgrown the covered porch. The homestead was two story, the white clapboard rotting away in spots. The place looked like it was near ready to fall in, in fact Daryl tested the first step up to the porch for a second before committing his full weight to it. It held as did the other four. The house was old but it looked like Amber's great grandfather knew what he was doing. The screen around the porch was nearly rotted away and mosquitos buzzed around Daryl's head as he pushed the front door open slowly. The front room was nearly completely empty, only a few pieces of trash on the floor and a rat's nest or two against the wall. He walked toward the massive stone fireplace, running his hand over the rough surface for a second. It was solid, heavy, REAL, not like that fake stone shit he had helped put in houses when he had worked construction. This had been meant to last.

_I like old things..._

Daryl made his way into the kitchen. It was spacious, more so than modern houses. This room had been made for canning the fruits of a seasons worth of labor in the garden and orchard. He could see through the open back door that there was a lean to built against the side of the kitchen, most probably meant for processing meat that had been raised or hunted on the property. The kitchen floor was rough hardwood. Daryl crouched down and cleared away a generations worth of dust to run his hand over the grain of the oak. It wasn't perfectly level, having been hewn by hand. But it was smooth as silk under his fingers, not a single splinter. He pulled his knife and went over to the nearest wall and pried off a board to peer inside the space behind. Even with the low light he could see what he had feared. Water damage from a leaking roof and termites had ruined the innermost structure of the home.

"Fuck." he said quietly, shaking his head.

So much for that. Besides, he could see a long flight of stairs leading up to the second floor right outside the door to the dining room to his left. Those wouldn't be a good idea for a long while, maybe even ever. Daryl sat down in the dust at his feet, back against one of the kitchen cabinets. He stared at the rays of sunlight that spilled in through the cracked window as he thought.

It would take too much money anyway. With the inner structural damage, it wouldn't be a restoration or a remodel. It would have to be a rebuild from the ground up, and that would defeat the whole damn purpose. Besides, the money the club gave them would only be enough to get started. Even with him working at the farm they wouldn't have enough. That wasn't something he could just up and do and hope she liked it, like the wildflowers. He'd have to ask Amber before hand, and once she knew, she would want to help. And he had enough trouble keeping her from hurting herself now.

Daryl sighed and stood, taking one more second to look around the old kitchen before snagging his line of kills and bow out of the floor. He needed to get home.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

That afternoon was no less crowded, though the company was a bit more comfortable. A group of Harley's drove up a couple hours after lunch, along with the black truck Merle had driven the night the women were taken. Barry and Debra got out of the truck and Daryl had to hold back a smirk. He could tell the president of the Demon's was having a hard time not being able to ride his hog. The others's were Tyreese and Carol, and Norm and Kaye. Daryl had heard everyone drive up and watched them from the porch. Something seemed a little wrong. All the women pulled into their own group coming up to the porch leaving the men to gather behind them. Debbie met Daryl at the door, just going ahead and walking in like usual. The other women followed her as did the men.

"Where's baby girl?" Kaye asked.

"In bed restin'" Daryl answered. He was new to this having a home shit, but it seemed like Amber's mother and 'aunts' were being a little extra pushy today.

"Taking a nap? What is this, the old folks home?" Debra snorted.

"No, she ain't takin a nap. She's got her laptop. She's restin." Daryl looked to the men but they weren't going to be any help. Barry had opened the fridge to start handing out beers to the other men before taking one himself. Tyreese seemed to have shrunk a couple inches since the last time he saw him. Norm was the worst though. He had stitches next to his left eye and looked like he hadn't slept. But,weirdly, he also had a hickey on his neck and what looked like fingernail scratches peeking out the sleeve of his tee shirt. Shit, at least HE wasn't reduced to jerking off in the shower. Still, considering how bad the Demon leadership looked, Daryl suddenly considered himself lucky to have gotten out of his and Amber's fight yesterday with only a bruised cheekbone from her headbutt and a sore spot in the middle of his back from when she threw the clock.

"So warden, can we see the prisoner?" Carol asked sarcastically. He looked back at Tyreese who suddenly seemed very interested in peeling away the label from his beer bottle. Daryl rolled his eyes, if they going to just come in and drink his beer, they could at least control their women.

"I'll bring her in here." Daryl went to the bedroom where Amber had already stowed her computer under her nightstand and sat up. The trailer was small and the walls thin, she had heard everything and was grinning up at him.

"Don't look so fuckin happy. All the women are actin pissed."

Amber chuckled as Daryl slipped his sling off. "They're pissed at their husbands, not you. That was your first encounter with the 'Angel wall of silence'."

Daryl slipped his arms up under Amber and lifted her. "Yeah, well, don't get no damn ideas. Ya bout broke my face yesterday. If y'all do that shit, y'all are the ones that need to be called Demons, not us." Daryl turned and nearly dropped Amber, being surprised by three very pissed women standing in the hall just outside the door to the bedroom.

Debra pointed at the hole Daryl punched in the wall the day before, the look on her face familiar. It was the same one he saw on Amber, right before she chucked her coffee cup at his head.

"What the HELL is this, prospect?" she growled.

Daryl looked down at Amber who smirked up at him. Luckily, they had made up so she decided to save him from the wrath of the three 'angels' turned harpies.

"It's alright mama. I head butted him in the face and threw my clock at him."

Debra pursed her lips and nodded at her daughter approvingly while Kaye and Carol continued to stare Daryl down with their arms across their chests.

"I want it fixed before the next time I come over. Understand, prospect?" Debra ordered.

"Yes'm." It came out before he thought and Daryl scowled as he followed them down the hall with Amber. What was this fresh shit? He was being ordered around by a bunch of women who weren't even his, in his own home, at least his in part. And Amber was acting like it was just how things went in the club.

He settled her on the couch and the other women took the other side of the couch and the two barstools. The little living room was suddenly crowded so Daryl went and grabbed his own beer and headed out to the porch with the other men following. They each took a seat in the metal folding chairs that sufficed as redneck patio furniture. Norm immediately propped his feet up on an upended bucket in front of him and laid his head back on the railing behind to close his eyes. Daryl eyed the three Demons skeptically.

"What the fuck happened to the three of y'all?"

Barry was the only one to answer. "Me and Tyreese had our nuts handed to us. And that one, " he pointed his beer at Norm, "has had his nuts worked off. So watch your sack, boy, bitch-itis is goin around."

Daryl shook his head. "It hit here yesterday. Your daughter bout broke my face." Barry nodded sympathetically and then turned to Norm.

"What the...?" the president began. Norm had his mouth open and was snoring quietly. Barry smirked at Daryl and Tyreese and then kicked the leg of Norm's chair hard, almost knocking it out from under him. Their sergeant at arms jumped and spilled part of his beer down his pants before he recovered and started cursing the three men laughing at him.

After a minute Daryl resumed the conversation. "So what did y'all do?"

Norm looked at Barry and shook his head before answering. "Don't wanna go over it right now, boy. You'll know soon enough. Just remember that advice I gave ya last week about lyin."

Tyreese spoke up. "I rebuilt the motor on Carol's Jeep."

Daryl gave him a confused look. "And she got pissed about it?"

"She went and bought a damn brand new one the same day. I mighta had something to say about it."

Daryl nodded. "I kept Amber from dumping a whole pan of hot grease on herself." The other men just looked at him to finish the story. Nothing surprised them anymore. "I mighta yelled and told her she was batshit crazy too." Even her own father seemed to commiserate with the younger man.

"Somebody call a goddamn club meeting and not invite the newest prospect?!" Merle yelled from the porch steps just before coming through the door. Daryl groaned, not only was he going to run out of his favorite sedative, now his bottomless pit brother was going to eat his food.

"Where ya goin?!" Daryl yelled after him as he went directly to the front door of the house.

"Gettin' me a beer."

Daryl ran his hand over his face. He was going to start charging a cover. Apparently he was running his own bar now. Merle appeared with his drink and propped himself up against the railing behind Norm. He took a drink and then used the lip of his bottle to lift the edge of the Norm's shirt sleeve, revealing the claw marks down the back of his arm just before he jerked away.

"Damn, sarge, you been rode hard and put up wet."

Norm nodded sleepily.

Merle jerked his head at Daryl. "Last time I saw marks like that it was on my little bro a couple weeks ago."

Daryl's head snapped up. "Would you shut the FUCK up Merle! Her daddy's sittin right there." He pointed at Barry, purposely leaving out the uncomfortable facts of Amber's sexuality at the moment. Merle winced, recognizing his mistake.

"Sorry, bro." he said quietly. Daryl just rolled his eyes at him and relaxed back into his chair. Merle was being Merle.

Barry leaned up. "How is baby girl doing? Really?"

Daryl sighed and shrugged. "Okay during the day. Nights is when it's hard. She wakes up screamin. Starts physical therapy up at the hospital tomorrow."

Barry nodded. "Amber's tough. She's gonna be alright." he sounded like he was trying to convince himself too.

They chose subjects that were a little easier for them to talk about for the next half hour. The Harley versus Triumph debate was brought up but Daryl just let Merle take the lead. He didn't need to debate how good his bike was. Every man there knew his Scrambler could beat their Harleys in a race without the throttle even being all the way open. He didn't need all that flash and tricked out shit or the monkey bars like Merle's Bonneville. The debate had yet to be decided when Debra and her two sidekicks appeared in the door.

"Come on, we're ready to go. Go kiss your daughter bye." She said to Barry haughtily, walking directly to the porch door without offering him a glance. The three elder Demons jumped up, Barry running into the house for a second and then following the others to the vehicles. Daryl watched them with an amused expression, as did Merle, until Amber called the younger brothers's name from the house. Then the Dixons did a bit of their own scrambling.

"What?" Daryl scowled, sitting on one of the barstools. Merle sauntered in and sat on the arm of the couch, just next to Amber's feet where she had her feet propped up as she sat sideways.

"Something was weird about all that."

"No shit."

"Quit being a smart ass." she addressed Merle. "Don't you think so?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But the pres and sarge ain't tellin. And Tyreese said he lost his over a Jeep."

"Lost his what?"

"His nuts, sugar."

"Ah." Amber nodded, understanding now.

"What does it matter?" Daryl asked. "Ain't got nothin ta do with us."

"I think it does." Amber countered. "Kaye acted weird, mama too. But they just said we, as in me and you, would find out soon."

"Yeah, Norm too. Ain't no reason ta get worked up."

Merle got up and began to rummage in the fridge.

"The fuck are ya doin now?" Daryl growled.

"Gettin me another beer."

"So, you just come down here to take all my drinks?"

Merle slapped at the back of Daryl's head as he passed back to his seat but he ducked it easily. He had lived with Merle long enough to dodge his hits pretty well.

"Fuck, no, but I will if ya keep running ya mouth. Old man let me kick off early, I got all my shit done for the day. Came down here ta talk ta little sugar."

"About what?" Amber asked smiling. "The garden?"

"Naw." Merle shook his head at her and then looked at Daryl. "You gonna start your smart mouth shit, or you gonna let me talk?"

Daryl cocked an eyebrow. "Depends in what ya talkin about."

Merle rolled his eyes and turned back to Amber. "Sugar, you know that little angel that sings at Jake's?"

Amber nodded but didn't get a chance to say anything before Daryl spoke up.

"Fuck NO, Merle! She's a goddamn KID, and your old enough ta be her daddy!"

Merle just flapped his hand at him dismissively. "I'm talkin ta sugar, not you dumbass."

Amber gave Daryl a look over her shoulder. "You, hush." she grinned at Merle for a second. "Yes, Merle. Her name's Beth. Her sister Maggie is a close friend of mine."

"She legal? She's have ta be, ta be singin in a bar, right?"

Daryl huffed and shook his head but they just ignored him.

"Yes, she's twenty one. I take it you're interested in her."

Merle blushed and Daryl's jaw dropped open. He had NEVER seen his brother flustered, especially over a woman.

"She sings good." he answered noncommittally.

"She's pretty, Merle." Amber said softly.

He mumbled something Daryl didn't quite catch, but it sounded like "Looks like a fuckin angel."

"Have you talked to her?" Amber prodded.

"Yeah, just between her sets."

Daryl couldn't sit there silent anymore. "Beth's sister is a friend a Amber's. She'll kick your ass if you touch her."

Merle looked at Amber, as if to ask if that was the truth. She shook her head. "I can handle Maggie. If you promise to behave yourself with Beth."

Merle pouted. "What ya mean? Ya don't think I should talk with her?"

"Didn't say that. Talk to her, dance with her"Merle scoffed when she said dance. "but keep your hands and...other parts to yourself. Beth's VERY innocent, raised in Mamaw's church. Her daddy's on the deacon board with Papaw. You make her daddy mad and it'll complicate things for everybody."

"Merle don't know HOW ta keep his other parts to himself, girl." Daryl piped up.

"Fuck you." his brother spat back. "I do so. Ain't laid a finger on her yet."

"YET"

Merle flipped him off with a scowl before resuming his conversation with Amber. "Ya think she might like me?"

Daryl laid his face on the bar and groaned. This was like fucking middle school.

Amber shrugged. "I haven't been there. Do YOU think she likes you?"

Merle rubbed his hand over his face for a moment, thinking before he answered. "She smiles a lot at me while I watch'er sing. I make'r laugh."

"Odds are good. But behave, you hear me? Have you danced with her?"

Merle shook his head. "No sugar, Dixons don't dance."

Amber looked over her shoulder at Daryl and now he found himself blushing. He had told her the same thing, only to end up with her in his arms minutes later. He frowned when she turned back to his brother, chances were that he would never get to dance with her again. Amber was going to be doing good to walk again.

"Then you better do some fancy talking, Merle. Buy her supper. She doesn't drink so that's out."

"A'ight." he said soberly as he stood. "I'll see ya later, sugar." Merle pointedly ignored his brother as he left.

Daryl went over to the couch, peeking in the crockpot as he passed. As soon as he had skinned the rabbits that morning Amber has insisted he set her on the counter so she could put them in. They then were covered in some kind of sauce she made from ingredients Daryl pulled out of the cabinets and fridge at her direction. It smelled so good his stomach growled, despite it not being near suppertime. Even laid up, Amber was going to make him fat.

He carefully picked up Amber's leg and sat on the couch to put it in his lap. His hands went to the straps of the brace, undoing them. It was time to do her therapy exercises. He didn't need to search for a subject to distract her today.

"I think that it's sweet that Merle likes Beth." she said, grimacing a bit as he bent her knee.

"He's old enough to be her daddy. And he's a pervert."

Amber chuckled. "Be nice, he's your brother."

"My perverted brother. That just ain't gonna work, girl."

"We'll see."

Daryl shook his head as he looked down at Amber's knee in his hands. The incision was looking a little better. When her exercises were done he just sat there for a while after redoing the brace, her foot in his lap.

"Come up here and lay with me." she said quietly as she scooted to lay down fully.

"Ain't sleepy." Daryl answered nervously, thumbnail moving to his mouth.

"Didn't say anything about sleeping. Just want you to lay with me for a little while." Amber rolled over on her side, her back against the back of the couch as Daryl slipped out from under her leg and toed off his boots before laying next to her. The couch was small so they were scrunched together, Amber's back pushed into the cushions behind her as Daryl's body surrounded hers all except for her bad leg that he pulled over his.

"Ya alright?" he asked quietly.

"Perfect." she sighed, looking up at him. "Feels safe."

"Good." he breathed, smirking down at her. Amber licked her lips, tilting her head up and he knew what she wanted, why she had him lay with her. He hadn't tried to kiss her mouth since the one she had given him before, he hadn't been brave enough to.

Daryl swallowed nervously and brought his head down to hers slowly. He felt like a damn fourteen year old kid, trying his best to get the angle right. When his lips met hers Amber made a little contented sound in her throat and he couldn't help but smirk against her mouth for a second. Damn, she felt good. He kissed her just as carefully as he handled her leg, afraid of going too far. He didn't really open his mouth, or urge her to, just gently bringing his lips to hers for a few seconds at a time before pulling back to check her expression and do it again. Amber seemed to be in heaven, sighing those little sighs that before would have had him pulling at her clothes. But now he just had one hand twisting a strand of her hair above their heads while the other found her hand that was squished between them, intertwining their fingers over his heart. Her free hand lay over his shoulder for a minute before moving down and under the hem of his shirt. Her cool fingers played over the scar on his lower back, the deepest one, and now it was his turn to make little noises. Amber pulled back a little and looked up at him.

"Does it...ever hurt?" she asked hesitantly, as if afraid of upsetting him. Daryl fought the urge to smirk. They were a good pair, each afraid of hurting the other.

"Naw, girl. Not for a long time."

"It's so deep. How..." she shook her head, "Nevermind, I'm sorry..."

Daryl let go of the strand of hair to bend his elbow and bring his fingertips to her jaw. "S'alright girl. I don't care ta tell ya. He hit me with a piece a firewood. There was a rough piece that was stickin out and it tore me up bad. I was about..." he paused for a minute, looking up as he thought. "maybe eight?"

Amber's chin quivered as tears welled up and then spilled down her cheeks.

"No...girl..." Daryl leaned in, kissing the wet tracks on her face as he murmured. "Didn't mean ta make ya cry..."

"I'm crying for you, you dummy." she sniffed, "for that little boy..."

Daryl smirked at her. "I think that boy's done pretty good for himself. Got him a pretty girl, a place ta live, and a full belly."

Amber brought her hand off from his back to wipe her cheeks for a second before putting it back on the scar. It was still damp with her tears and that somehow made it feel even better, even though he wished she hadn't cried, not over him. He wasn't worth that.

"I'm going to tell you something." she said slowly. "He never k..." she searched for a better word "...put his mouth on me. Not one time, anywhere." She looked up at him expectantly and Daryl didn't know what to say. He WANTED to say he didn't give a FUCK what the son of a bitch did, she was his, belonged to Daryl Fucking Dixon. But he also didn't want to scare her, or make Amber think she had done the wrong thing by telling him. So he just nodded and ducked his head to capture her mouth. This time he let his tongue trace over her bottom lip, letting her know he accepted her truth for what it was. She was giving him permission.

Amber's lips opened a little and he slipped just inside, where she met him. He nearly groaned when her tongue slipped over his a bit, fighting the urge to plunder her mouth. He knew it so well, every inch. But just to taste her had to be enough for now. Just a drink, instead of out and out swimming in her like before. This going slow was doing things to him, body and mind. Before, they had gotten together so fast. He had kissed her right before lunch and then they fucked like animals that night. But with the starting over, it was deeper, sweeter. Just the touch of her tongue to his had his brain overjoyed with one more battle won.

Daryl had just pulled back to look at her when there was a knock on the door. It was so abrupt that they both jumped. They didn't know it then but that knock was was the beginning of something that would change them and what they had forever. Whether for bad or for the better would be up to them.


	51. Chapter 51

**Wowza! Thanks for the overwhelming response to the last chapter! It took me a long time to write, deleting and redoing several parts. As usual, the chapter that I had the roughest time with, got the best response! Thank you all so much for caring for these characters and this story. I'm sorry if this update took longer. My son is playing baseball in another state and I had to get him, the hubs, and my oldest daughter packed to go. Enjoy and review, please!**

Daryl laid the large manila envelope in Amber's lap. It had been a delivery man at the door, the package had been sent overnight certified mail to him and Amber both.

"Moss, Moss, and Moss."Amber read the return address. "Is that Merle's lawyer?"

Daryl shook his head, sitting beside her nervously. "'Sides, why would it have yore name on it? Only somebody that knows us would know we live together." The words sounded odd to Daryl's ear, even though they came from his own mouth and were the truth. He, Daryl Joseph Dixon, was living with a woman. "Open it." he prodded, twisting his fidget band.

Amber gave him the side eye. "Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?"

"Shit from lawyers ain't never good. An' in the last month I've killed six men, carry an illegal gun, done drugs, and ride with a biker gang. That enough?"

Amber snorted. "They don't send certified letters for that stuff. More like the swat team."

Daryl rolled his eyes, she might have grown up with all that shit being everyday normal, but he sure as hell didn't. He motioned again for her to open the package. It seemed to take her forever to get it open and slide the thick stack of papers out. The top was handwritten on a yellow legal pad. Daryl propped his head on Amber's shoulder, his arm around her waist as they read silently.

_Baby Girl,_

_I know that you were told that I was a product of rape, and that Mad Dog raised me as his own. However, he hid the true identity of my biological father from me. My mother's rapist was Viktor Blake, then president of Le Mechant. He was also the father of the monster that hurt you. The only people who have been privy to this information for the last twenty years have been my husband and your father. I was not made aware until I received a package of my own several days ago, informing me that I was now the sole heir of the Blake fortune. I, like I'm sure you and Daryl are also, was disgusted, most of all by the lies. I briefly considered destroying the money. But I then thought better. This money will not take away your pain, both mental and physical, just like it hasn't mine. But it can be another way of exacting revenge, the best kind. A life well lived._

_I gave a portion of the money to several charities (in the name of my son that Martinez took from me), the club, and you and Daryl. Baby girl, PLEASE, before you decide you don't want this money consider what it could be used for. You have a long recovery ahead of you, and you need Daryl by your side. You could give to charities, buy a home, start a business, or just put it away to live on. It's your decision, just so it gives you two a start you wouldn't otherwise had._

_I know this won't make up for what you have been through. I also know you and Daryl won't want to take it. But please understand, there are two things that Le Mechant hold in lower esteem than anything else, women and Demons. Your pain is a testament to this. The thing that Le Mechant hold above all others is their money. So for even one dollar of theirs to be spent by a Demon and his woman would be like a knife to their gut. I love you so much, Amber, and Daryl has proven himself to be a good man, a man of honor in a very short amount of time. _

_The papers enclosed will direct you to a safety deposit box in Atlanta. All you will have to do is show ID (you and Daryl both, it is in both your names) and it will be opened for you. It will contain a quarter of a million dollars, in large bills. We both know, growing up with the club, that this is the best way to avoid a paper trail. If the money is not claimed in thirty days, it will revert to a charity. But there would be no greater good it could go to than for you and Daryl to begin again what was so horribly interrupted._

_I love you,_

_Mama Kaye_

Even before Daryl could finish the last paragraph Amber was pushing the stack of papers out of her lap, almost as if she were afraid they would bite her. She started shaking her head, tears running down her face to smudge the ink Kaye had put down days before.

"No...no..." she looked up at Daryl, the look in her eyes more frightening and broken than he had seen her yet. "Don't want it...don't want it..." she murmured. He let the papers fall to the floor, worried with her. But as soon as he went to put his arms around her Amber pushed him away and pointed to the papers at her feet. "Don't want it...I DONT WANT IT!"

Daryl was lost, for the first time in a while. "Me neither, baby girl. I swear, I DONT WANT NOTHIN FROM THAT BASTARD!"

She still pointed at her feet and Daryl could feel her slipping away, farther than she had ever been during the daylight hours. Her face scrunched up and when she spoke again her voice wavered as she pled with him. "Please...make it go away...MAKE HIM GO AWAY!"

Daryl nodded, quickly gathering up the papers. He jumped up, only stopping to get the remnants of his jar of moonshine from the top of the fridge. Grabbing the metal trashcan that sat on the front porch, he drug it in front of the door. The papers were quickly doused with the liquor by his shaking hands and then his eyes sought Amber's.

"Look at me, girl."

She shook her head that was now in her hands as she wept.

"LOOK AT ME GIRL, PLEASE!" He hated to yell, but he knew she needed to see it herself. Her head finally lifted to look at where he stood in the doorway, soaked bundle of paper in one hand, lighter in the other. As soon as he knew she was looking Daryl flicked open the lighter and touched the flame to the papers. They caught immediately, bursting into blue and gold due to the high alcohol content. Daryl had to drop them into the trash can a second later when he felt the hair on his arm begin to singe from the heat. He ran to Amber,skidding to his knees in front of her, her legs on either side of him.

Daryl went to gather her into his chest but Amber pushed at his arms until she could prop her head on his shoulder. He let her, knowing she needed to watch the flames, watch the papers go to cinders. For the second time, she had been attacked by The Monster of New Orleans. And for the second time, Daryl burned him away.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

It took Amber an hour to calm down enough to speak. Daryl had become desperate and ended up jerking his shirt off and laying with her on the couch. Now she lay to the outside, facing the door watching the last wisps of smoke float up from the trashcan in the waning afternoon sun. Daryl hadn't dared try to remove her top as he lay behind her. He did push up the back, hoping the skin to skin contact would help bring her around, like it had several times before. For the first half of that hour Amber alternated between sobbing and murmuring to herself. But then she slipped into silence, eyes never leaving the trashcan. When she finally spoke, her voice was calm to the point of being flat and emotionless.

"We need to go to the clubhouse."

Daryl jumped, her speech surprising him in the quiet. Relief washed over him as he pushed up on one elbow to look over her shoulder so he could see her face.

"Naw, girl. We ain't goin nowhere. Ya need ta rest."

Amber looked back over her shoulder at him. "I need to talk to her, Daryl. And daddy and Norm." She looked back at the trashcan. "They knew. They knew the whole time and lied to her. If they hadn't lied, if they had told her the truth...my daddy...my DADDY KNEW the whole time!"

Daryl tightened up his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder. He had nothing to say, the shock of the last hour overwhelming.

"This is why Kaye told me they were all going to be at the club tonight. Because she knew we would get this, that I would need to see her. That's why they're all mad. They lied to Kaye, Mama, me. Everyone that was touched by it."

"Girl..."

"Listen. I have to go Daryl. I'm so tired of being afraid. And I owe Kaye..."

"You don't owe nobody SHIT, girl!" Daryl spoke firmly.

"I need to tell her we can't take it. I'm sorry, I know it's a lot..."

Daryl abruptly turned Amber so that she was on her back and he could speak to her face to face. "NO! Don't ya dare say yer sorry! I ain't takin NOTHIN that sick FUCK had his hands on. I don't fuckin care how much goddamn money it is, girl. Takin the money from the club was one thing, but this...uhuh, just no. Ya worth more ta me than that."

Amber pulled him down and he held her until dark slid in around the little trailer on the pond. Finally she pulled him back to look him in the eye.

"Please. Take me to the clubhouse." she asked plainly.

"Ya sure?" he searched her eyes

Amber nodded. She needed to get some closure.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

An hour and a half later Daryl pulled the truck into the clubhouse parking lot, Merle pulling his Triumph in next to Amber's door. Daryl had called him while Amber was sitting on the bathroom counter doing her hair and makeup. His brother had been almost as shocked at the news as he had been. And Daryl had the feeling he was going to need someone at his back tonight. Barry and Norm had slipped significantly in his sight as had the whole idea of being a Demon. He wasn't coming in the clubhouse to pick a fight, but he WAS going to let them know a few things before he left.

Daryl looked down at Amber as she sat next to his right arm, her leg on the bench seat like she had ridden home from the hospital. She had chosen to wear all black tonight like him and Merle, reflecting her mood. It was rare that she didn't have some pink on somewhere. But she had directed him to pull a pair of black jeans out of the closet, shimmying them on with his help and then put her brace on over. Then it had been a black halter top, the neckline plunging and the bottom hem several inches above the waistband of her jeans. Daryl bit back his comments, this wasn't the time. It was still more modest than what she wore her last time in the club. She had sat for a minute on the bed, pondering her shoe choice, before deciding on a pair of strappy black super high heels. The swelling had gone down in her right foot, and it wasn't like she was going to be walking anyway. The hair was different his time. She swept it back into a severe, tight, high ponytail, her hair straitened until it looked like smoked glass hanging down to her mid back. The makeup was darker too. She was beautiful, but in a cold way that was so strange that it worried him.

Merle was already at his door when he opened it. He just stood to the side, arms crossed over his chest as Daryl pulled Amber out of the truck and into his arms. He looked down at her pensively.

"Ya sure ya wanna do this?"

Amber nodded, her mouth set in a grim line. "Yes. Now let's go in, prospect."

Daryl rolled his eyes. He didn't mind carrying her, in fact preferred it to her using the wheelchair. But he was going to be glad when they couldn't call him 'prospect' anymore, one way or another.

Music was rolling into the parking lot, Eli Young Band's "Crazy Girl" as Daryl walked up to the door, carrying Amber, with his brother off to one side. He waited a second as Merle opened the door so he could carry her in, giving him a look. Merle gave him a single nod back.

_Let's do this. I got both y'alls backs._

As soon as Daryl stepped in the door it seemed like a million eyes were on him. No one except the officers that had been at their home today had expected Amber to come back to the club so soon. And they had expected her to come in a wheelchair, not in the arms of one stone faced redneck prospect. He looked down at her nervously. "So where we goin?"

Amber scanned the room quickly, trying to keep the look on her face cool and impassive. She spotted Kaye, in Norm's arms on the dance floor, the two of them staring back at her. Well, that was a shocker. Amber had never seen Norm Black dance even once in her twenty seven years. Kaye caught Amber's eye and inclined her head toward the meeting room.

"Meeting room." Amber said back up to Daryl. He started in that direction, despite questioning her.

"Ain't we sposed ta be invited or some shit?"

"I just got invited. You need to pay attention, prospect."

Daryl decided to let that one go. He wanted her wrath fully centered on someone else instead of him. He jerked his head at Merle, but it wasn't necessary. His brother had already fallen in step right behind them.

Daryl saw Barry appear from the back hallway, jerking his shirt over his head hurriedly. He also had a red mark on his cheek that was shaped a whole lot like a hand. Debra appeared a second later, not one hair or stitch of clothing out of place. Truth was, the Demons fearless leader had just tried to make amends with his wife, just in a different way than Norm and his dancing. That plane was shot down before it ever got out of the hangar.

Someone must have signaled Tyreese because he met them at the door to open it. This was an unspoken signal to other club members that they had been allowed permission to be in there, despite being two prospects and a woman. Daryl moved to sit Amber down in one of the chairs but she shook her head and tightened her grip on his neck.

"Set me on the table. I don't want to be looking up at everybody."

He cocked an eyebrow at her but sat her on the table anyway. He knew the club held the meeting table in the same high esteem as the room it was in. Daryl also knew Amber sitting on it was a sign of disrespect, and he didn't put it past her to be doing it purposely. He caught a whiff of bleach as he sat her down and wondered a bit. Why the fuck would they bleach a pine table?

He didn't have time to wonder long. Kaye and Norm quickly slipped in the door, followed by Barry and Debra. Both woman made their way over to Amber's side and Daryl stepped back, standing with Merle for a bit to let Amber talk to them.

Debra just took her daughters hand while Kaye stepped in front of Amber to brush her hand down her cheek.

"You got it, didn't you, baby girl?" she asked quietly.

Amber nodded. "Right after y'all left. Thank you...but no."

Kaye sighed. "Please...baby girl. Think about..."

"We burned it." Amber said with an air of finality, as if they had burned the money itself.

Kaye shook her head. "Amber, you still have thirty days..."

Daryl piped up from where he stood leaning against the wall, "Answer won't be no different then. I'll provide for her, not nobody else."

Kaye shook her head at him and closed her eyes for a second before answering. "Daryl, I'm not saying you can't provide for her. Everybody here knows better than that. But think about what the two of you could buy with it...do with it..."

Daryl took two steps toward her, his face growing red, his voice growing louder with every word. "Yeah, Kaye. How about we use it ta buy her a night's worth a decent sleep? Maybe buy her fuckin BEIN ABLE TA WALK? HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST? YOU OF ALL FOLKS KNOW WHAT THIS IS LIKE FOR HER!"

Norm stepped between them, facing Daryl. "Calm the fuck down, boy. That's my old lady ya yellin' at."

The push came, just not from the direction Norm was expecting it. Kaye's nails dug in to his shoulders as she shoved his back and snarled. "YOU stay the HELL out of this! This whole damn thing is YOUR FAULT!"

He whirled around wide eyed. Kaye pushed up in his face. "This is between me, baby girl, and Daryl. NOT YOU!"

Norm's eyes narrowed. "Ya disrespectin the sergeant at arms, in the meeting room."

"Wrong! I have NO RESPECT for the sergeant at arms, in this room or ANY OTHER!"

Every muscle in Norm's body tensed for a second, but then he must have thought better of whatever it was, because his frame then sagged in defeat. He slowly made his way over to one of the chairs against the wall to sit with his head in his hands. Kaye went to talk to Amber, but she held her hand up, stopping her.

"No, Kaye. I..." she looked over at Daryl who nodded at her to go on. "WE are not taking it. That's final. I'm sorry if that hurts you."

Kaye nodded sadly. "Fine, it was up to you. Just know you have thirty days."

Amber shifted to address her father, who stood next to Norm's seat. "And you..."

Barry ran his hand over his face. "Poosh...ah, Amber, this..."

"No." she interrupted. "You let me talk. To you and your right hand both." Norm looked up and then stood, being man enough to accept when he was guilty. Both men walked closer to the small woman sitting on the table. Somehow, she seemed bigger than both the broken Demons at that moment. She spoke to her 'uncle' first. "Twenty years. Twenty years you lied to her." Amber motioned toward Kaye without taking her eyes off Norm. "How could you? And you were sitting there, giving DARYL advice, while being a HYPOCRITE? He and I have been together a MONTH and he wouldn't dare lie to me."

"He would if it protected you."

Daryl went to take a step forward but Merle grabbed his arm, his eyes flicking over to Amber.

"Let Lil' Sugar handle this. She's got it." he muttered.

Amber did have it, indeed. "If it protected me? What EXACTLY were you protecting Kaye from? From knowing the TRUTH? You could have helped her through it, been fucking THERE! Same way Daryl is for me! No, you did what was easy for YOU! So you and your little buddy here could spend the years climbing the ranks in the goddamn blessed club! ALL this could have been avoided, if you had only told the truth to everyone!"

Barry shook his head. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Amber's voice rose, incredulous. "What? WHAT?! How about this, then? If everyone knew the truth from the beginning, we all would have KNOWN why they targeted Kaye! You could have had negotiations, SOMETHING! You could have stopped the war. She wouldn't have been taken ten years ago. And they wouldn't have taken ME!" she motioned down to her body. "I'M LIKE THIS BECAUSE OF YOUR LIE!"

Daryl felt rage come over him in a hot wave. That's what Amber had meant when she said the lie had touched them all. It had caused her pain like some house of cards falling in on itself because one had been misplaced.

"No!" Barry ground out, taking a step until he was in his daughters face. "You have no IDEA what I have done for YOU! THIS CLUB PAID FOR YOUR COLLEGE! Put food in your BELLY AND A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD!" He dropped his voice, easily finding his menacing tone as he leaned in. "And you will respect ME AND this CLUB!"

Amber leaned in, her expression and tone a familial match to his. "I'm not afraid of you like Leon was. Fuck you, and your precious club."

The next few seconds passed as if in slow motion. Barry reacted instantly when Amber invoked the name of her dead brother. One of his hands grabbed her upper arm cruelly, the other snapping back to slap her face. Daryl leapt forward, this time followed by his brother rather than stopped. Debra and Kaye both screamed out, reaching for Barry from where they had ended up behind him. Daryl ended up knocking over a chair in his haste to get to Amber but he still got there in time to shove Barry away before his hand contacted with his daughters face. The both fell to the floor, Daryl on top of him, drawing back his fist while he screamed.

"DON'T YOU FUCKIN TOUCH HER!"

Norm moved to grab Daryl, reacting on twenty years instinct to protect his president. He never got to him though, because Merle's shoulder contacted with his gut, both of them rocketing against the wall before falling in a cursing grunting heap. There was a solid thwack as Daryl's knuckles contacted with Barry's nose.

This was the worst time in the world for Tyreese to open that door.

The whole club had heard the voices growing louder and several members had moved to stand in front of the door. Tyreese had held them off, citing it was a family affair, not club business. But then it sounded like a brawl was going on and he could hold them off no more. He flung open the door, going in first himself, expecting to just find that one of the women had thrown something. What he (and ten other members) found was the president and sergeant at arms being taken down by their two newest prospects. Within two seconds both Dixon brothers had no less than five handguns trained on their heads, each.

Amber screamed, knowing what attacking the pres meant. She jumped down off the table, expecting to balance on her good foot, hands outstretched to the members filing in through the door with guns drawn. She forgot that she was wearing her highest pair of 'hooker heels' though and wobbled dangerously for a moment. Her mother and Kaye both reached out but were separated from her by the men fighting on the floor. Amber ended up falling on her left hip and shoulder, hard. Daryl had heard her scream behind him and turned around, pushing off of her father in a futile attempt to catch her.

"NO!"

It was the only thing Daryl could get out as her body collided against the concrete floor. He had no thought for the bullets that were about to be released in his direction, only that the lie had hurt her, yet again.


	52. Chapter 52

**Yay! Two chapters in one day! I'm on fire! I love you guys! Thank you for being so concerned about Amber! Don't worry, she's a tough little piss ant! Review me baby!**

"Dammit, Daryl! Leave me alone, I'm fine!"

Daryl ignored Amber, running his hands over her body as he crouched over her. He was also ignoring the guns trained on him and his brother.

"Did ya hit ya head? What about yer leg?" he asked, obviously panicked.

"No! I just fell on my fa...uh fluffy ass, okay! I'm alright, just get me up!"

He looked down at her, a bit calmer. "Ya sure? I'm takin ya ta the hospital ta get checked out."

"No, you're not. I'm sick and damn tired of the hospital." Amber looked around Daryl, much more aware of the imminent danger of gunfire in the room. She found Norm, who had just rolled out from under Merle while clutching his ribs.

"Call them off, Norm. Now." she said low.

The sergeant at arms looked up at Tyreese and nodded. "S'fine. Just family shit." He addressed the other Demons who had weapons out. "Walk away." They slowly put their weapons up and walked out of the room. Merle got up and then leaned over to help pull Norm up.

"Sorry, sarge. Just watchin my bro's six. Ya more solid than ya look, I'll give ya that." He rotated his shoulder after he pulled him up. "Ya bout broke m'damn collar bone when I hit ya."

Norm nodded and coughed, grimacing as he clutched his ribs tighter. "Then we're even, cause ya almost broke my ribs."

Daryl wasn't as forgiving as his brother. Once he had Amber solidly in a chair, he just regarded her father with a glare. Debra was kneeling next to Barry, having pulled his skull do rag off his shaved head to hold it to his bloody nose. He reached his hand toward Amber but she turned her head, just before Daryl stepped in between them to squat at her feet checking her over again. Debra shoved the rag into her husbands hands and joined Daryl.

"You okay, Pooshie?" she asked quietly.

Daryl answered before Amber could, as he unstrapped her brace. "She says she's fine, but I'm gonna run her up ta the 'mergency room."

Amber shook her head at both of them. "NO! I. AM. FINE. All I want is a drink. At the bar."

Daryl had her brace off now and carefully bent her knee. "This hurt?"

"No more than it did earlier today. Now please, take me to the bar."

Daryl gently took her left arm and started checking over her shoulder. He moved it in a circle slowly. "How about tha..."

"Daryl, if you ask me if I'm okay again, I'm gonna scream. No that doesn't hurt."

He didn't answer, intent on what he had found on her upper arm. The skin just above her elbow was already turning purple in the shape of her fathers hand. Amber grabbed the front of Daryl's shirt just as he went to leap up back in Barry's direction.

"Mama, help!" she pleaded with Debra.

The older woman put her hands on Daryl's shoulders. "Stop. Just stop. Daryl, worry about Amber right now."

"He fuckin marked her!" he spat, pointing at Amber's arm.

"I know. He's sorry. And he's going to be more sorry by the time I get done with him. But if you jump Barry again, you'll be the one getting hurt. Remember where you are."

Daryl jerked out from under Debra's grasp and busied himself strapping Amber's leg back into her brace. She could tell by how he was moving that he was barely holding on to his self control. By the time he finished, Norm and Merle had left out the door, headed towards the bar. Barry followed a moment later, still clutching the rag to his nose, presumably headed towards the bathroom to get cleaned up. He gave Amber one last repentant look before he walked out.

Kaye walked over to check on Amber. After she assured her she was fine, Kaye asked Debra if she would drop her off at her house on her and Barry's way home. Debra quickly agreed, knowing how strained her best friends marriage was at the moment. They both hugged Amber before they left, Kaye whispering the words "Thirty days. Please change your mind." as she did. Amber acted like she didn't hear her.

That left Amber and Daryl alone in the meeting room. As soon as the door closed behind Kaye, he relaxed between Amber's knees, arms circling her waist as he laid his face against her stomach. She leaned back against the chair and ran one hand through his hair. It was getting to the point he was going to have to make the decision to either cut it or grow it out.

"I don't care if he's ya daddy, he ain't gonna hit ya." Daryl said against her belly.

"You almost got shot. You can't jump the president in the meeting room."

"Like I said girl, he ain't gonna hit ya." Daryl turned his head to place a soft kiss on her stomach below the hem of the halter and Amber jerked. He pulled his head back, worried he hurt her but then saw the grin in her face.

"What the hell was that?"

"Your scruff, it tickles."

Daryl smirked up at her and then rubbed his cheek on the delicate skin under it. She squirmed under him and giggled. Amber finally tugged on his hair to get him to stop. She leaned over him and he pushed up to meet her. Daryl had been worried she would pull away after the episode with the letter from Kaye and the lawyer. But Amber seemed to be even more determined to make contact with him. And he needed to let her taste, smell, and feel calm him after the adrenalin of the fight.

They just kissed for the next few minutes, Daryl not going any further than just inside her mouth. He let Amber take from him what she would, though and he felt his cock twitch when the tip of her cool tongue danced over the roof of his mouth. It reminded him of how she had flicked her tongue over the head of his dick the last time she gave him a blow job. He pulled away groaning, hands tightening where they sat on the bare skin of her waist.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked as her brow furrowed in confusion. She stopped him from pulling back any further with her hands on the back of his neck.

"We need ta stop."

Amber frowned and looked around for a second. "Why? We're alone?"

Daryl rolled his eyes. "S'just too much, a'ight?"

"I thought you said I could decide what was too much. I'm fine."

"Wasn't talkin about you, girl."

Amber looked at him blankly for another second before smirking and nodding. "I love you, Desperado."

"Love ya too, baby girl." he said so low she almost couldn't hear him. Amber tugged on Daryl until he wrapped his arms around her tightly and his chest was pressed against hers. She propped her head on his shoulder and he moved his face into her neck that was totally exposed with her hair pulled up. He pressed his lips against her neck, forcing his tongue to stay in his mouth and off her skin.

"I'm sorry." she whispered next to Daryl's ear.

"Bout what? You ain't done nothin'."

"I'm sorry we can't..."

Daryl silenced her by bringing one of his hands around to her mouth, placing his rough index finger against her lips. He pulled his head back to press his forehead against hers.

"Hush. I ain't even worried bout that, not for a long while. S'just enough ta have ya here and safe. Even kissin is more than I was hopin for right now." He was telling the truth, just leaving out his shower escapades. Daryl would have given his own life to undo what had been done to Amber. But he wasn't so dumb as to not realize what this time of slow rediscovery was doing for their relationship.

She nodded and he removed his finger, replacing it with his lips. He kissed her a little deeper now than before, just a little. His hands danced over the skin that was exposed on her lower back while her nails drew light circles on his neck. Daryl pulled back when it started to be too much for him again and smirked at her. "I thought ya wanted ta go ta the bar."

Amber nodded, swallowing. "Why don't you buy me a drink?"

Daryl snorted, shaking his head. "Ya know we drink free here."

"What can I say? I'm a cheap date."

Daryl chuckled as he stood and scooped her up. "Ya right, free drinks, a couple rabbits in the crockpot, and some wildflowers from the backyard and I got ya eatin outta my hand."

Amber nodded her head. He was right.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

An hour later they were both working on only their second drinks, Daryl with his usual bottle of Bud and Amber with her Tennessee Honey over ice. She knew he wouldn't drink any more since he was driving so she motioned for another whiskey from Carol as she found the bottom of her glass. Daryl shook his head, looking at Carol and drawing his finger across his throat, telling her to cut Amber off. Amber looked up at him with her eyebrow raised.

"I'm a big girl, Daryl."

"Yeah, a big girl whose gotta take a pain pill and a sleepin pill before bed. Leigh told ya before ya left the hospital, ya can't get smashed and take ya meds."

Amber sighed and looked back over at Carol, who was scowling at Daryl. She wasn't too keen on men telling women what to do either. Amber just mouthed the word "Coke." at her. A minute later one appeared to take place of the empty glass.

"Better, Desperado?"

He smirked down at her. "Yeah."

Amber took a drink and nodded down towards the end of the bar, where Merle and Norm had sat drinking for the last hour. Merle was still his usual self but Norm was looking a little worse for wear, obviously way past half lit. One of the bleached blonde 'skank twins' that used to hang around Leon tried to rub up on Merle, feeling up his bicep while she oohed and aahed.

"Here we go..." Daryl snickered in Amber's ear as he watched.

Merle looked up at the bleached blonde and frowned for a second before jerking his arm away. Now it was Amber turn to look up at Daryl over her shoulder and giggle while he gaped.

"I don't think he's interested."

"Fuck...I ain't never seen him turn down free pussy."

"Told you he liked Beth."

"He's gotta be sick or somethin."

"Why? Because he turned down that slut? You think she's pretty?"

Daryl looked down at Amber with his lip curled in a disgusted sneer. "HELL NO! Too tall, too skinny, too blonde, too slutty. An' I bet ya she smells like ass and cigarettes instead a' rain and..." Daryl sniffed Amber's jaw. "Jack Daniels. Definitely rain and Jack Daniels."

Amber giggled and slapped him away from her face playfully. Daryl took a peek around the room and made sure nobody was looking before he pressed a quick kiss to her neck.

"So you're saying I smell like liquor. Thanks." Amber said drily.

Daryl chuckled, feeling much better than he had when he first got to the clubhouse. "Just a little, right now. Not all the time, didn't say I didn't like it."

"Uhoh." Amber was suddenly serious. "Check out Miss Ass and Cigarettes now."

Merle had disappeared and the skank twin had moved on to Norm. He was grinning at her and letting her lean in a whole lot more than a married man should. Amber gave Daryl a worried look just as Merle walked up to her elbow from the direction of the bathroom.

"Lil' sugar, y'all ready ta head home? I gotta work in the mornin." Merle's eyes glanced down at the end of the bar. "I think Sarge is about ta fuck up royally an' I don't wanna be here when it happens."

"Yep. Time ta go." Daryl killed the rest of his beer. "That bitch'll give'em somethin Ajax and water won't take off."

Amber shook her head and reached up around Daryl's neck as he picked her up. "He won't have to worry about catching anything. Kaye'll cut it off."

Both men agreed as they made their way to the truck and Merle's bike. Amber cautioned Merle to keep his phone on. She had a bad feeling about Norm. He didn't get totally drunk off his ass a lot, but when he did it was bad. She remembered a couple times when she was still home with her parents when Kaye had called Debra, and Barry had to go over to drag him out of the house. But that was before this. Now the only men who would cross him were the Dixons and Daryl wouldn't leave her.

It took them an hour to get home, Amber to take her medication, and them both get ready for bed. She saw Daryl hesitate and look in her direction when he reached for his sweatpants. She rolled her eyes as she got her leg adjusted on the pillow.

"It's hot. Just wear your boxers, dummy."

He nodded and cut off the light before sliding into bed behind her. Amber had put on a pair of little sleep shorts and a sports bra, trying to balance her need for skin contact at night without it being 'too much' for Daryl. They relaxed into each other and Daryl grabbed the iron rod of her brace to lift her leg. He pushed the pillow out from between her knees with his foot and replaced it with his own leg.

"That gonna be okay? The brace won't hurt your leg will it?" Amber asked quietly into the dark.

"S'fine. Fuckin pilla gets on m'nerves. Alright with you?" he murmured against her hair, that was now down and spilling down under their heads.

"Yep. Night. Love you."

"Love ya. Sleep. I want biscuits in the mornin."

They both had just drifted off to sleep when Amber's phone went off. She slung her arm over Daryl and sat up halfway to try to grab for it and ended up hitting him in the face with her elbow.

"Ow! Damn, girl..." he said, a hand going to his mouth.

"Sorry. My phones ringing. Hand it to me."

Daryl took a minute to fumble for it and Amber finally got it in her hands. "Hello?" Daryl was fully awake now and sitting up, looking at Amber nervously. Calls at 3am were never good news.

He saw her eyes go wide in the sparse light from the phone. "Okay, are you alright?" She looked up at him and mouthed "Kaye."

Daryl ran his hand over his face. Stupid fuckin Norm. He and Baby Girl both needed their sleep but instead they were dealing with this shit.

"I'll have Daryl send him over." Amber flapped her hand in the direction of Daryl's phone, in the pocket of his vest hanging on the bedpost. He grabbed it, going ahead and dialing Merle.

"The fuck ya want?" his brother answered, less than cheerily after the sixth ring.

"Ya need ta get down ta the junkyard. Kaye just called, Norm's showin his ass."

"Shit." Daryl could hear rustling, Merle must have been throwing his clothes on. "Tell'er I'm on my way. Sarge better hope he's already out by the time I get there or I'll knock his ass out. I gotta work in four goddamn hours." The line went dead and Daryl smirked. That was the first time he had ever heard Merle be concerned about work, ever.

Amber handed her phone back over and she took her place against Daryl's chest as he situated her leg over his. She didn't say anything but he could feel how tense her body was against him.

"Quit worryin." he said against her neck. "She's fine."

"I could hear him trying to kick their bedroom door down."

"I've kicked a door down ta get ta you."

"That was different. He gets crazy when he's this drunk."

"Merle will be there in less than ten minutes. And then Norm'll wish he hadn't showed his ass. Now sleep. Almost three fuckin thirty."

Amber nodded, putting her hand over his where it lay on her bare stomach. Daryl leaned in to kiss her neck and she turned her head, nudging his face with her nose. He took the hint, kissing her on the mouth, slow and soft, his tongue dancing across her lower lip a single time before he pulled away.

"Night." Amber sighed.

"She's fine. 'night. Sleep. Now."

Amber giggled and snuggled into him. Daryl might have a temper and be bossy but he sure as hell wasn't drunk and letting some peroxided whore rub up on him. Good thing, because she'd hate for two Demons to lose their nuts in one night.


	53. Chapter 53

**A little bit of humor, domesticity and fluff. Just cause I felt it, with a tiny bit of sad mixed in. I hope y'all like it. I just love making Daryl uncomfortable. Amber's therapist is based on a good nurse friend of mine.**

When Amber woke, it seemed like she was hurting everywhere. Not in the panicked sharp way of her flashbacks, but she was just sore. Her left hip and ass cheek, her left shoulder that she was laying on felt the same way a rotten toothache did. But worst of all was the ache deep in the pit of her stomach. In fact, the only thing that felt good on her body was the warm weight that pushed against her back, reached over her and wrapped around to tuck under her left breast where it contacted the bed. Daryl's fingers twitched a tiny bit around her flesh and he sighed into her neck, still asleep. Amber grinned without opening her eyes. She hated to wake him, he had been missing sleep as much as she had. But she knew he would be upset if he knew he was touching her like that in his sleep. It didn't seem to be sexual, more a comfort thing. She couldn't feel any morning wood as he pressed against her. Besides, Amber knew what that ache in the pit of her stomach meant and it needed to be handled. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tugged on the hand that was tucked under her. Daryl resisted, pulling his body around her tighter and muttering.

"Uhuh...mine..."

Amber giggled, he was like a kid with a favorite toy. Moving his hand was out so she was going to have to move her body. She shifted in his arms until she was nearly on her back, his hand under her left shoulder. There, now she could wake him. Daryl's head was snuggled against her right collarbone now so Amber brought up the hand that was trapped between them to run her fingertips through his scruff.

"Come on, Desperado. Gotta wake up, it's..." Amber craned her head over to look at the clock on the nightstand. Amazingly it hadn't broken when she threw it at him. "...eleven thirty. We've slept half the day away." She felt the second he woke up, he went from completely relaxed to having that underlying current of tension he always did when awake, even just with her. It was at it's lowest when they were like this, but still there. Daryl was what her grandmother would call 'high strung'. It was just how he was. He pulled his hand out from under her shoulder to scrub it over his face as he yawned.

"Shit."

Amber smirked. Of course his first word of the day would be profanity. She had a sudden thought and tapped on the side of his face.

"Hey, wake up..."

"I'ma wake. Fuck..." he stretched and carefully pulled his leg out from between hers. Amber rose up on her elbows and turned her head to look at him.

"Did I wake up crazy any last night?"

Daryl's brow furrowed in confusion. "Wake up cra...oh that." he thought for a second. "Ya started kinda mutterin and movin around about six I think. But I talked to ya for a minute and ya went back ta sleep." He grinned up at her sleepily. "That was it."

Amber couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She had made it almost all night without a screaming episode. "Seven hours, Desperado. Seven hours of sleep." Daryl pushed up on one elbow and Amber lay down so he could lean over her. This felt more natural.

"How ya feel?"

"My left side feels like hell. And..." she didn't get any farther, Daryl was leaning over her, pulling her shoulder up so he could peer at it. She knew he was looking for a bruise. He must not have seen one because he moved down her body, hooking his finger in the waistband of her shorts at her hip to pull them down under her ass on that side. Amber just let him, knowing he wouldn't be satisfied until he checked her out.

"Motherfucker!"

"A bruise?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Hell yeah a bruise. A damn big one." Daryl ghosted his fingers over the sore spot on the back of her hip for a moment before pulling her shorts back up and laying his face on her stomach.

"I swear to fuckin god, I'm gonna beat the shit outta yore daddy." he said plainly.

"No you're not." Amber said quietly, running her fingers through his hair, knowing it calmed him. "That was my fault. I shouldn't have jumped off the table."

Daryl looked up at her and rolled his eyes, he must not have been convinced. He moved back up her body to look at her face. "Sides that though, ya feel good?"

"I feel rested." she grimaced and squirmed under him. Daryl looked back down at her hip. "It hurt that bad? Ya need ta get checked out?"

Amber shook her head. "It's not that. My period's starting. I'm cramping." Daryl's eyebrows shot up and she fought the urge to laugh. "I'm a woman, Daryl. We do this every so often. And Leigh said it was a good sign if it came on time. Which I think it has. How many days has it been since you came to work for Papaw?"

Daryl fumbled his phone off the table and flipped it to the calendar. She watched his lips move silently as he counted the days.

"T'day's thirty five."

"That's exactly right then. I started the day you came to work. And I have a long cycle. Thirty five days."

He looked down at her uncomfortably after putting his phone back on the nightstand. "S'good, I reckon...Ya sure it's that and not...tha other? Ya coulda popped a stitch or somethin when ya fell..."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. I've been doing this for sixteen years. I know what cramps feel like. Now, can you please help me to the bathroom before I ruin my clothes and the bedsheets?"

That was all that was needed to prod him into action. Thirty seconds later Amber was in the bathroom, taking care of her problem while Daryl stood outside the door. The man who had balked at letting her pee by herself a couple days before couldn't get out of the room fast enough now.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed under her breathe but he still heard her.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, still standing outside the door.

"Ruined my damn clothes. Can you get me some shorts and panties. Get the purple briefs, they're my period panties. Might as well get me a shirt too."

She heard Daryl rummaging through her drawers, muttering about 'fuckin' period panties'. Then her clothes were tossed at her through the cracked door, Daryl still not risking peeking his head in.

"Desperado, you aren't gonna be freaked out every time I do this are you?"

"Ain't freaked out. Ya bleed that much ever time, that ya ruin ya clothes?"

"You didn't grow up around any women did you?" Amber asked rhetorically.

"Just ain't fuckin natural."

"What do you mean, not natural? It's the MOST natural thing there is."

"Ain't no animal in the woods that can bleed for a week and live."

Amber couldn't help but chuckle as she hopped to the sink to wash her hands. Daryl had no problem gutting and skinning a two hundred pound buck, but freaked his ass out over two tablespoons of period blood. The man had a lot to learn about the female species. God only knew how he would act when they had a baby. WHOA! Amber nearly fell over when she caught herself thinking that! That was...that was not EVEN on the table! She had been concerned when she first found out the extent of her injuries, of course she had. She knew Kaye had to have a hysterectomy ten years before. But that had been in general, not specifically thinking about kids ANY time soon. They had only been together a month, and been on fast forward for most of that. She was just enjoying them getting to know each other now. And Daryl definitely wasn't thinking along those lines. He acted uncomfortable just seeing her take her birth control pills.

Amber busied herself with throwing her clothes in the washing machine that was tucked into the linen closet just behind her. She used to mentally gripe about the bathroom being so small but it was perfect now. She could move around, although clumsily, on one foot while holding on to the counter. Amber never would have thought just being able to navigate through her own bathroom would be a victory. As soon as she turned the washer on Daryl was coming through the door.

"I coulda done that instead of ya hoppin around and fallin again."

Amber looked up at him with a smirk. "So you would have picked up my BLOODY clothes and put them in the washer?"

Daryl huffed, bending down to hook his arms under her back and thighs to pick her up. "So I guess ya bein on the rag makes ya a smartass too, huh?"

"Nope, I'm that way all the time."

Daryl opened his mouth to agree but then shut it. There wouldn't be any good way out of that. He just went to place her on the couch but Amber shook her head. "No, I gotta make you some biscuits, remember?"

"Ya feel like it?"

"If every woman on the planet stopped doing everything when they were on their period, the whole world would come to a standstill. So yes you get biscuits."

Daryl wasn't going to argue so he planted Amber on the bar and turned to grab her the buttermilk and her favorite mixing bowl. She could pull the flour and shortening down from where she sat. He lit a cigarette while she dumped the ingredients in the bowl, eyeballing the amounts instead of measuring, just like Roxie had taught her. She started mixing with a wooden spoon and Daryl pulled the cig out of his mouth long enough to lean in and place a kiss on her cheek as she worked.

"You best be careful." she grinned, "You get ashes in my biscuits and I'll mix them in and make you eat every one."

"Still be better than mine."

She was rolling them out now, and cutting them out with the mouth of a mason jar, not needing any fancy biscuit cutters.

"Are you dead set on having pear preserves with these this morning?"

Daryl shrugged. "You got something better?"

Amber looked up at him. "Get me the cocoa powder and sugar from over the stove."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Chocolate gravy. Mother fuckin chocolate gravy. Daryl had no idea who had taught her to make THAT but he would be eternally grateful. He pushed back from the plate in front of him that had just been emptied for the third time, to light a cigarette. He didn't want to ask Amber to do it because she was still eating. Daryl eyed the last two biscuits that sat in the pan on the stove, longingly.

"Don't you dare, Daryl." Amber warned. "You'll make yourself sick."

He shrugged. "You're gonna make me fat."

"I would say that way we could be fat together, but it would get me in trouble."

He flicked his ash into the ashtray. "Yep, ya know better, girl. Sides, ya gotta get that fifteen pounds back."

Daryl looked up at Amber, just as she licked the last of the chocolate from the back of her spoon. He immediately looked back down at the ashtray, willing his traitorous cock back down. She was hurt, and now on the rag, and he still got hard just by watching her lick a damn spoon. It looked like he was going to need a shower soon, and not for hygiene purposes.

"Ya done?" he asked, trying to find something else to occupy his mind.

"With my plate. Can you fix me a another cup of coffee?"

Daryl took her plate and her cup, one went into the sink and he hesitated at the coffee pot.

"We ain't got but half a bag of sugar left. That be enough for ya?"

"Smartass."

Daryl snorted, dumping the spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee along with her hazelnut creamer. When he turned back around Amber was facing the couch on her barstool, her back against the counter. Daryl made his way to her side and sat her coffee behind her.

"What're ya doin?"

She looked up at him. "The couch is right here. I don't even have to hop, I can just stand up and pivot."

Daryl ran his hand over his face and sighed. He really wanted to just pick her up and move her over.

"Fine. G'head and do it while I'm standin here."

Amber gave him a surprised look before pushing up and turning. She wavered a bit and Daryl had to make a fist to keep from grabbing her arm. The one closest to him had been grabbed enough, it had the marks to prove it. A second later she plopped down on the couch.

"I did it!"

"Yeah, girl. Ya did." He wondered how many times they would repeat those words in the coming months. Daryl handed her the coffee and took a seat next to her. He had pulled on his jeans while the biscuits cooked but still didn't have a shirt.

"Therapy's at four right?" she asked over the rim of her cup.

"Yeah. Figured we'd leave a half hour before. Gives us a little over two hours. What'ya wanna do?"

"I'd rather take my bath after. I'll end up sweating while I work."

"I'm takin my shower here in a minute." He didn't elaborate on the why.

Amber nodded. "Why don't you hand me those towels out of the dryer and I'll fold them while you get in?"

"A'ight."

Daryl flicked his ash into the ashtray on the end table. It seemed he had accumulated one in every one of his 'spots' around the house. Amber had done that. He sat forward with his elbows on his knees, staring at the floor just thinking. Amber reached over and began to run her hand down his back, smoothing over each of his scars, one by one. He couldn't help but sigh and lean into her touch.

"Will you tell me the truth, if I asked you something?"

Daryl stubbed out his cig and looked at her. "Well, yeah. Ya know that."

"Are you getting bored? Like...you're not working. It's so quiet, you just take care of me, stuff like that. I worry about you."

"About me or about us?"

Amber looked down and he had his answer. Daryl moved over until he was right next to her, turning so he could look at her more easily.

"Ya want tha truth?"

Amber nodded down at her lap.

"Nope. Not bored a bit."

She looked up at him and he knew she had barely avoided tears. Daryl really hoped he wasn't going to have to deal with this every thirty five days.

"Really?"

"Yes, baby girl, really. Ya know tha kinda home I grew up in. Wasn't no home. Daddy like he was, Merle strung out. Then all the shit over the last month. I'll take chocolate gravy, an laundry, an all this other shit any day. An I'll be goin back ta work as soon as ya well. I'd feel like I'm on a damn vacation, if ya wasn't hurt. Not that I'd know what one was like."

"Huh? You've never been on a vacation? Anywhere?"

"Daddy wasn't the type ta take trips. Didn't have no money no way."

"Not even riding up to Gatlinburg or Florida?" Amber seemed totally shocked by his revelation. Daryl just shook his head back at her and Amber grinned.

"Well, as soon as I get better, we're gonna fix that."

Daryl raised his eyebrow at her. "Don't start thinkin ya gonna blow that money from the club on a trip."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Dang, Daryl. I'm not talking two weeks in Hawaii. I think we can handle five days in the mountains or at the beach."

He shrugged. "Whatever. Up ta you."

"Well, don't get so excited." Amber punched him in the arm playfully and he grabbed her hand, intwining his fingers with hers. He looked down as he spoke quietly.

"Just ain't used to it."

"Used to what?"

"Somebody givin a shit about me. Bout what I ain't got ta do before, or what I want ta do."

Amber was a little shocked. It was so easy to forget that Daryl had never really been loved before. She had been surrounded by family and club family growing up, somebody caring was her normal.

"Hey..." she put the fingers of her free hand against his scruff and gently made him look at her. "Remember when we took that bath together, and you told me I was yours?" Daryl nodded, nudging his face against her hand. The look in his eyes made her heart sick. He looked like a sad broken little boy. In a lot of ways, he still was. "Well, you're mine too. That means I get to spoil you. Chocolate gravy, and long weekends somewhere."

Daryl reached up and brushed his knuckles down her cheek. "Damn, I love ya, baby girl." he murmured before kissing her. He was so gentle that it nearly made her weep, coupled with her hormones.

"I love you too, Desperado. Now go get in the shower. We got boring normal shit to do today."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl leaned up against the wall of the physical therapy department. The therapist that was working with Amber now had tried to tell him to wait out in the waiting room. That hadn't gone over well, especially since she had been assigned a man. She had taken it well, even if Daryl hadn't. He supposed the fact that the man was obviously as queer as a three dollar bill helped some. He had positively swished as he walked them through the doors to the main therapy room. Amber just looked up at Daryl from her wheelchair with a mischievous grin as he pushed her in her wheelchair. Even so, he could tell the guy was doing his best to only touch her where he had to in order to get his job done and Daryl was grateful to him for that. Just not comfortable with him.

That damn wheelchair too. Amber had demanded he put it in the back of the truck so she could use it while they were in town. At first he thought maybe she didn't want to be picked up by him in front of people but then she pointed at his sling and told him to put it on. He didn't even like the way she looked sitting in the chair, like she was some kind of cripple. Amber had even figured out a way to pull herself into the truck with Daryl helping with just his left arm.

The first half hour of her therapy had been the same exercises they had been doing at home. But the second had been teaching Amber to walk with crutches and he liked that just about as well as he did the wheelchair. Maybe less, since she was more likely to fall using those. The look on her face was enough to make him keep his mouth shut though. She was beaming as she worked across the room and back, sweat dripping down her face. Then she was done, taking her seat in her wheelchair and propping her crutches alongside as the therapist asked Daryl to step into his office. He followed him into the glassed in room, looking back at Amber pensively. She gave him a limp wristed wiggle of her fingers and puckered her lips as if making kissy noises. Daryl just gave her a scowl back. He was going to whip her ass, she thought she was so damn funny.

The therapist, whose name tag identified as Jason, shut the door behind Daryl and motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he took a seat behind it.

"I'll stand." Daryl fiddled with his fidget band, where it emerged from his sling on his wrist.

The man nodded and looked at Amber's chart for a second before looking up

"I'm sure your aware, Mr. Dixon, that Amber lost a significant amount of weight while hospitalized."

Daryl nodded. "I'm makin her eat so she gets it back."

Jason shook his head. "Eating alone isn't going to do it. From what I understand, Amber was used to strenuous farm work."

"Yeah, she worked right alongside me, just as hard."

"A large amount of what she has lost is muscle mass. Most people with injuries like hers gain upper body strength after they are released from the hospital, because they are having to push a wheelchair or use crutches. She has lost some. I get the feeling you aren't letting her do for herself."

Daryl shrugged and Jason stood to walk around his desk, hitching himself up on the front to sit. Daryl became obviously more uncomfortable and Jason rolled his eyes.

"Listen, honey. I don't go for biker types. And it's obvious you worship the ground she walks on. Gay ain't catchin, sweetie."

Daryl tried to keep his mouth from falling open. Why, that little fairy...what exactly was he supposed to say to that? Thankfully Jason just returned to his previous subject.

"You've got to stop picking her up every time. Let her use the wheelchair and the crutches, her muscles have got to build back and diet is only part of it."

"Don't like her lookin like that. She ain't no goddamn cripple." Daryl growled, trying to sound imposing. Surprisingly, Jason didn't back down, fairy or not.

"I understand how you feel. My partner was in a car accident a couple years ago. It killed me to watch him go through the recuperation, especially since I'm a therapist and knew more than the average person. But there were times I just had to shut up and let him try. And sometimes I had to let him fail."

"She's been hurt enough. I ain't about ta let'er hurt herself."

"I said fail, not fall. You can help her, be there to catch her. But every day you baby her, is one more day longer until she can walk again."

Daryl looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at Jason. He felt a little bad for judging him, the man obviously cared and knew his shit when it came to his job. Daryl could respect that.

"How long ya think that'll be? Till she walks on her own?"

Jason sighed. "I really can't say. She's motivated, young, and in overall good shape when she was injured. Those work together to shorten the time it takes. She's moving under her own power as of today, with the crutches."

"I don't mean that."

Jason held up his hand for a second. "I know. This is a small town, we don't see a lot of injuries like hers. But from my experience..." he hesitated as if wary of Daryl's reaction to what he was about to say. "she could be walking on her own in six months, with only a slight limp. But she could also require the use of a cane, at least part time, for the rest of her life. We just don't know."

"She loves ta dance."

Jason shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry. The odds are against that."

Daryl ran his hand through his hair, trying to contain himself. He couldn't take his frustration out on the man in front of him. He was just telling the truth. That was something else he could respect him for. Daryl finally just put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground and nodded.

"A'ight. Anythin else?"

"No. We'll see her again in two days. And she needs to be using the crutches for at least half of her transfers and movement around the house."

Five minutes later Daryl was pushing Amber's wheelchair up to the the truck. He unlocked the door and opened it, maneuvering her chair until she was parallel to the seat. She looked up at him and he just looked back.

"Aren't you going to help me?" she asked as if confused.

Daryl shook his head. "Try by yourself first. Then if ya can't I'll help."

Amber looked up at him and grinned. Daryl just made a 'get to it' motion with his hand. "Go on. Get your ass up in the truck. We ain't got all day, got shit ta do at home."


	54. Chapter 54

**This chapter covers two weeks. I could really spend a ton of chapters writing everyday domestic sweetness, but I don't want to bore you guys. Please let me me know what you think**!

Two weeks passed after Amber's first therapy appointment fairly quickly and (relatively) drama free. She and Daryl tried to focus on each other and that 'normal boring shit' that they both craved. They used the time to find out more about each other and do things they didn't have time for before because they were too busy with sex. Amber found out, to her surprise, that Daryl was a bit of a neat freak in his own way, and that her massive collection of shoes unnerved him. She lost track of how many times he muttered 'how many fuckin shoes can a person need?'. She didn't tell him that the biggest part of her collection had been put into storage when she came home after she separated from Dante. Daryl found out Amber had a thing for internet shopping, even if she wasn't spending money, just browsing, and that she would become so engrossed he would have to close her laptop to get her attention. She also considered the kitchen her personal domain and took it personally if he tried to start a meal without her input.

Amber threw herself into her cooking, especially since she could navigate the kitchen better now on the crutches. Daryl still hovered but she ignored him, or put him to work cutting something. He didn't fight it, enjoying the majority of the results himself. He put on a little weight and it hit him in all the right places. Amber found herself noticing how his pants fit his ass better now and how his shoulders seemed almost wider. My god, if they did that much more, the man wouldn't be able to fit through the doorway without turning sideways. But the weight gain wasn't all of it. He carried himself a little different now, at least when at the trailer. Daryl was becoming the man of the home, or at least a man WITH a home. Amber didn't really see him really sink into himself the way he used to, at least not as much and it made her proud.

Daryl would drink a gallon of sweet tea a day if Amber would make it, in fact preferring it to his precious beer. She learned that she could use it as a gauge of his mood. The earlier he swapped over to the alcohol, the more 'stir crazy' and 'wood sick' (as she started calling it, as opposed to home sick) he was becoming. Both the times he cracked a bottle before supper, she sent him into the woods the next day when she had visitors. She used the excuse that she wanted game for supper but he wasn't stupid. He knew she was doing it for his own good though and loved her for it. He had his own secret. Amber greatly overestimated the time it took an experienced bow hunter to take down small game on a virgin acreage like that one. He would take enough for their evening meal just on his walk to and from the old homestead. Daryl would sit in the kitchen or living room of the old house, just thinking. He wouldn't even call it 'planning' in his own head, because planning meant you were going to do something, not just thinking about doing it, what it would take and how long. Once he did take a piece of scratch paper and the stub of a pencil, and sketched out a simple floor plan, estimating how much materials he would need for the interior skeleton of the structure. Then he figured up the cost, and it was frustratingly high, even with him using the prices he remembered from the last time he worked construction almost a year before and depending on the possibility of reclaiming nearly all of the interior floors, paneling, and cabinetry from the homestead. Daryl nearly balled up the paper and threw it against the kitchen wall but he hesitated, folded it crisply and put it in his back pocket. Maybe one day.

A couple of times Amber got stir crazy herself and begged Daryl to take her to the clubhouse until he relented. It felt good to just get dressed up and do her hair and make up. Plus she could go through the door under her own steam now, with her crutches and a scowling prospect behind her. Daryl still wasn't a huge fan of the things, but he went along with it, remembering what Jason said. They only stayed a couple hours each time, drinking at the bar and maybe hanging out with Kaye, Debra, and some prospects and members he and Merle had hit it off with. It was well worth the effort of getting in the door for Amber to get to see him make friends in that world. He was quickly becoming a Demon, despite how he still felt about the president. Barry wasn't much higher on his daughter's list at the moment either. She still hadn't talked to him since the night he tried to hit her. Barry found ways to be busy elsewhere besides the mainroom when they were there.

One night Maggie came over to spend time with Amber, while Glenn went back up north for the weekend to see his family. They had planned out an evening of girly activities. Amber convinced Daryl to go to the clubhouse with Merle for a bit, for some guy time. He still grumbled when he left her though. It happened that 'guy night' would turn out particularly bad.

The Dixon's headed straight to the bar as soon as they got there, Daryl missing Amber and Merle missing being at Jake's watching Beth. Within a half hour, skank twin #1 (the same one that earned Norm some time in the counselors office) decided that Daryl was free for the taking, since he didn't have a certain green eyed brunette on his arm that night. He gave her two warnings, the first a dirty look as he jerked his arm away, the second a rather loud "AINT INTERESTED, SKANK!". Merle just grinned at his beer, having dealt with her a week before. A third warning wasn't needed. Before she could touch him again he saw her jerked away by her hair behind him. Merle was already laughing as Daryl whirled around on his barstool to see what the commotion was. Debra and Kaye had skank twin on the floor, beating the shit out of her. All the other Demon's just looked on, not daring to grab the officers wives. The Dixon's, despite being prospects, were the only ones who could break it up.

Daryl took a drink of his beer, and looked at the fray, asking Merle "Reckon we outta stop'em?"

Merle nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess." Neither made a move to get up.

"I'm finishin my beer first though." the younger brother said with a smirk.

"Yep. Me too."

That lasted all of thirty seconds, until Daryl saw Debra bring her boot up to reach for something in the side of it. He figured the mother was the same as the daughter so he quickly jumped up and grabbed Debra around the waist, telling her to put the blade up. Merle took that as his cue and got Kaye up off the floor where she was beating a bleached blond head into the oak flooring. Barry and Norm came in from the firing range at that moment, to find their 'angels' turned into a couple of snarling she wolves being restrained by the Dixons and a bleeding semiconscious whore below them. Debra was yelling that she was going to gut her if she came near ANY of the men in her family again (it wasn't lost on Daryl that she had included him) and Kaye told her she was going to do her a favor and pull that horrible hair out of her head if she touched Norm or "baby girl's old man" again. The president and sergeant at arms did what any smart husbands would do. They sided with their wives and had Tyreese eject the battered blonde out the door, with a warning to never return. Daryl and Merle released the women as soon as she was out. Debra whirled around and hissed at Daryl. "You better be glad I saw you turn her down, prospect. Or it would have been you I had down in the floor." Daryl just nodded. The woman had just called him a member of her family, and he agreed with her. If he ever even thought about cheating on Amber, he needed his skull beat in. Kaye just gave Merle a haughty look and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked over to Norm. She grabbed his hand and drug him back to one of the side rooms. He didn't resist, like I said, he had become a much smarter husband lately. Daryl and Merle had had enough so they decided to call it a night.

Amber knew about it before Daryl got home, her mother having texted her. She just waited until Maggie left, a few minutes after he came in, and looked at him expectantly. Daryl wouldn't look at her, just lighting a smoke and kicking off his boots to flop down on the couch and lay with his head in her lap. Amber ran her hand through his hair.

"Anything you want to tell me, prospect?"

Daryl shrugged. "I think I'm gonna take my ink just so y'all can shut up callin me that." Amber saw the curl at the corner of his lip.

Amber frowned down at him. "You think you're funny?"

"And you think your smart. I figured yore mama called ya, or Kaye one."

"Anything you want to add?"

"Nope."

Amber went to push him off her lap and Daryl stayed put, snorting with laughter as her hands dug into his shoulder and side. "FUCK GIRL! I'm just messin with ya! Ya mama tell ya I told that whore I wasn't interested?"

Amber stopped pushing at him. "Yes, I just wanted to hear it from you." she pouted.

Daryl pushed up so that there faces were only inches apart. "I done told ya that last week when she tried that shit with Merle. Ain't but one bitch I want on the back of my bike, ever." he stopped, obviously thinking that was enough. Amber just looked at him with her eyebrow raised and Daryl sighed and shook his head.

"Good lord. You, smart ass, I only ever want you on the back of my bike. With ya black hair, green eyes, an' ass and titties that go on forever and the way ya smell. Ya happy now?"

Amber smiled. "Yes, yes I am. And remember that or I'll make a necklace out of your nuts."

"Don't I know it." Daryl muttered just before leaning up on one arm, supported by his hand on the couch next to Amber's thigh. He kissed her harder than he had been, the excitement of the evening and her playfulness reminding him of how things were before. Amber matched him, having become frustrated with how easygoing he had been in that department. She appreciated what he was doing, but doubts about whether he still wanted her had begun to creep in. The kiss became heated, Amber biting Daryl's lower lip, making him groan. His free hand had slipped into her hair, using it to tilt her head so he could take advantage of the angle. He hadn't truly taken her mouth until now and her taste was making him forget the limits he had set for himself.

Her hands went to the hem of his shirt and lifted, Daryl broke the kiss just long enough to jerk his shirt over his head, the vest being removed as soon as he came in. He was shirtless with her all the time, wasn't anything wrong taking it off now, Daryl told himself. Amber's hands played over his chest and he pressed into them, moaning when her palms brushed over his nipples. He knew if he wasn't careful, he was going to come in his pants on that couch for a second time.

Daryl pulled back from the kiss and began to make his way down her jaw, kissing and tasting her, moving down her neck as Amber sighed under him, tugging on the back of his hair that way that made him crazy, letting him know she was enjoying what he was doing to her. Then he felt one of her hands start sliding up the inner thigh of his jeans and his own hand shot out, his fingers encircling her wrist to stop her a split second before she made contact with the member that was almost painfully straining against his zipper.

"Uhuh, girl. Don't ya dare." he warned, swallowing, his face still buried in her neck.

"Daryl,..."

"I said no. Ya cain't do nothin anyway."

Amber looked at him pleadingly. "No, I can't have SEX. Doesn't mean we can't do ANYTHING. You telling me you haven't had to rub one out since we been home?"

Daryl shook his head firmly, despite his body pleading otherwise. "THAT DON'T MATTER." He could feel the tell tale blush creep up his cheeks and mentally cursed it. "We gonna wait ta do anything till tha doctor says ya can. An even then we gonna take it real slow."

"I'm fine. I want to. My god Daryl, it's just a hand job..."

Daryl closed his eyes, precariously close to agreeing to it. But then he remembered what she looked like the early morning before, waking up screaming, and his resolve strengthened. Even though she had one full night of sleep after the clubhouse a week before, she had woken up at least once the nights afterward, better than before but still bad.

He took the hand that was in his and brought it to his lips to kiss her finger tips and lay it over his heart. His body was screaming and pleading with him for her hand to be in the front of his pants but Daryl didn't listen. "No, a'ight? Please, girl. Ya might be alright with it now, but once we got started, or even finished ya might not be. An' I can't take that. Ya worth more ta me than jus' gettin off."

Amber sagged against him frowning, and he released her hand to tilt her chin up. "I love ya. I promise, we gonna get there."

Amber nodded, "I love you too. My doctors appointment is tomorrow." she said hopefully.

"And ya know it ain't been but a month. They ain't gonna give ya the go ahead for nothin. Now c'mon, let's go ta bed. We got a lot ta do tomorrow. I got to see the doctor about my arm after you get out. You walkin or am I totin ya?"

Amber smirked. "Walking. You can't screw your arm up the night before you see the doctor."

Daryl nodded and kissed her quickly before pushing up off her lap to grab her crutches. He handed them to her and she pushed up slowly. Daryl let her lead the way to the bedroom as he willed his cock back down. There would be no shower tonight, it was clear she was on to him.


	55. Chapter 55

**I am the proud mom of a Rome Rivercat! My sons team just won the eight year old National World Series in Pensacola Florida!**

**On to the fic! The end of this chapter has been holding me up, it was just so damn awkward. But then I realized, that was kinda the point. I hope y'all enjoy it it in all it's awkwardness!**

**WARNING: I guess I need to put a warning for ...uh...explicit medical exam I guess? Not like, describing the doctors end of it, (shiver ugh) but Amber and Daryl's.**

Amber practically bounced in the truck seat next to Daryl she was so excited. He had asked her what her problem was but she had just said she was eager to see how much progress she had made. He reminded her that there was no way the doctor was going to give her the "all clear" and she just rolled her eyes and said that yes, she knew that, thank you very much. She was sitting sideways, like usual, with her back against his right arm as it sat in the sling. He hoped to hell his doctor let him get rid of it today. His shoulder rarely ever hurt anymore, especially after Amber started using her crutches most the time over the last two weeks. What really pissed him off was not being able to get on the bike. Practically brand new, owned outright, and he couldn't even fucking ride it. But then he remembered, if he got on it, he would be on it alone. It would still be a while until she was well enough to ride, and then it wasn't so important anymore. The last time he had ridden was behind the ambulance on the way to the hospital from the office building in the wee hours of that morning a month ago. He couldn't even remember it, he was so upset then. As soon as he got back from the ER with his arm in a sling Debra had sent Merle to ride it home and return with the truck.

Daryl was dragged from his thoughts when he almost missed the turn in to the parking lot. He whipped the truck in, Amber having to put a hand out on the dash to steady herself.

"Whoa!" she laughed, slapping his thigh playfully as he parked as close to the door as he could. He didn't want Amber having to use the crutches more than she had to.

"S'rry."

Daryl helped Amber out of the truck and walked closely beside her, close enough that he could grab her with his free arm if he needed to. The gynecologist office was on the fourth floor and the elevator was slow. Amber just continued to grin at him and Daryl narrowed his eyes at her.

"What're ya up to?"

"Not a thing, Desperado. Not a damn thing."

Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes.

"You don't believe me?"

"Not a lick. Now c'mon."

The elevator doors opened and the doctors office doors were directly in front of them. Daryl opened the door with his good hand and Amber slowly made her way in to sign in as he found them a seat. The waiting room was crowded and Daryl noted uncomfortably that most of the women seemed to be about nine and a half months pregnant.

They only waited about ten minutes, Amber flipping through a magazine while leaning on his good shoulder. Daryl just fiddled with his fidget band and looked at the floor. A gynecology waiting room was the last place he was going to feel at home in. Finally, the nurse opened the door and called her back.

"Miss Phillips?"

"Right here..." Amber called out to her, struggling with her crutches. "Just give me a second."

Daryl stood and hooked his hand up under one of her arms to help her stand. She looked up at him hesitantly was she seated the crutches under her arms.

"You don't have to go back with me. It's alright."

Daryl shook his head. "Ain't lettin ya go alone. Now hurry up, they're waitin on ya."

Amber followed the nurse, obviously relieved, with Daryl right behind. He was pretty sure he was going to be embarrassed before he got out of this place. Hell, he already was, having to walk down the pink hallway of exam rooms with it's posters about breastfeeding and the stages of childbirth. But he also knew Amber had hurt, bad, the last time she had been checked. He wasn't about her to go through that alone and her mama and Kaye weren't here.

"Here you go, Miss Phillips. Room twelve." The nurse said, letting them into the room before her. Daryl took a seat in the chair that sat in the corner while Amber stood next to the exam table while the nurse laid out folded white sheet. "Here you go, hon. I'm sure you know the drill from your yearly exams. Strip to the waist and cover with this. The nurse practitioner will be in shortly." She left them and Amber hitched herself up on the table as Daryl stood and stepped to her side. She began undoing her brace and he looked at her confused.

"Why ya takin that of? Ya can get those shorts off over it."

Amber just gave him a wry smile. "I'm gonna have to bend my knee, Daryl. See those delightful pedals down there." She motioned toward the foot of the table. "I'll have to bend and open my knees so they can check me."

Daryl shook his head as he began to undo the straps from the bottom to help her. "And ya did this every fuckin year? Before?"

"Yep. Won't give you your pills if you don't." She looked at him with a smirk. "Relax, I'm the one getting my privates checked, not you."

Daryl slid the brace out from under her leg and sat it behind the chair. "I know that. Jus' worried bout ya. Don't like ya hurtin'." he murmured.

She smiled at him. "I know. But it hurt some even before. Can you help me get my shorts and panties off, or is that one of those 'too much' things?"

"S'fine." He was far and away from getting aroused right now. Amber pushed up and he hooked his fingers into the waistband of the gym shorts she had worn for ease of removal that day, and then snagged the waistband of her panties. He pulled them down her legs, making sure to keep his eyes else where. Amber took pity on him and covered with the sheet immediately. He got her clothes down to her ankles and Amber toed out of the sneakers she had on so he could pull them off. "Ya socks too?"

"No, I get to keep those."

He looked around for where to put her clothes and Amber took them out of his hand to fold and drop them in top of her shoes in the floor. Daryl started working around his thumbnail as he sat in the chair again, his fidget band wasn't going to cut it while he was here.

"So, it hurt before too?" he asked her quietly.

"Yeah. Well, I guess it's uncomfortable for every woman. But I'm kinda little down there. They had to use a child size speculum usually." Amber saw the furrow in his brow at the word 'speculum' and chuckled. "Don't ask, you don't want to know. Besides, I'm sure it won't be as bad as in the hospital."

Daryl nodded down at the floor. God, he hoped so. There was a knock at the door and the nurse practitioner came in, setting her laptop on the counter before addressing Amber.

"Ms. Phillips..."

"Amber, please."

"Amber, it's good to see you. You look like you've made a lot of progress in the last two weeks."

"I have. I've had a good helper." she looked over at Daryl and smiled.

The NP looked over at Daryl and smiled, extending her hand. Daryl shook it awkwardly. "And you are, Mr...Phillips?"

Daryl's eyes grew wide and Amber had to bite back a laugh. "Daryl's fine." he mumbled.

"Daryl then." she turned back to her patient. "Let's see how we're doing, shall we?" She took a seat on the rolling stool and Amber pivoted her body around on the exam table to lay down. She was able to get her left foot into the stirrup but Daryl immediately saw it was going to be a struggle for her to bend her knee enough by herself for the right. He jumped up and was at her side in one long stride, hands going to her leg over the sheet to bend the knee gently and set her foot in the stirrup. Daryl saw the NP put on her gloves out of the corner of his eye and his stomach rolled. He could feel the tension in Amber's body already, just from where he touched her leg. When he looked up at her face she already had her eyes closed, making herself take deep breathes. Freaked out or not, wasn't no way he was going to sit back in that seat until this was over.

The next five minutes were some of the worst in his life. He ended up leaning on the table on his elbows next to Amber's head. She kept her eyes closed the whole time and about a minute in, tears started rolling down the side of her face.

"S'alright baby girl. Gonna be alright." he murmured, kissing the corner of her eye. Amber didn't answer, just kept taking deep breathes. Daryl wanted to tell the nurse to stop, hurry up, something but he just focused on Amber.

"Have you had your period yet?" the nurse asked.

Amber went to speak but then her chin quivered and she shut her mouth.

"Two weeks ago." Daryl answered for her, not taking his eyes off her face.

"Everything alright with it?"

"She said it was like it always is." he answered tersely. Couldn't she save the questions for later and just get this shit done?

"Lot of pressure here for a minute Amber, hang with me." the woman said quietly. Then Daryl heard a series of metallic clicks and Amber whimpered, hand coming up to clutch at his vest where it hung next to her face. Daryl grabbed her hand and dropped his forehead to hers. "Almost done, baby girl. Almost done." He hoped to hell it she was almost done. Then he smelled blood and his body tensed. He was a hunter, his nose keen and used to tracking the smell. He started taking deep breathes. If the woman didn't hurry the fuck up, he was going to pass out himself.

Then those clicks again and Amber's body relaxed a bit. The nurse sat back and took off her gloves, Daryl seeing that they were bloody even though she tried to slip them into the biohazard box quickly.

"See, baby girl? Ya all done. It's over, ya did it." he kissed the corner of her eye again, it was soaked with tears. The nurse pulled two tissue from a box on the counter and held them out. Daryl snatched them out of her hand and set to drying Amber's face. The woman was just doing her job, but Dammit! Amber had been through fucking enough.

Amber finally opened her eyes and looked up at Daryl. She squeezed his hand for a second and nodded. He kissed her forehead. "Good job, baby girl."

The nurse left the room, saying she would talk with them after Amber got dressed. She didn't say anything until she had her clothes and brace on with Daryl's help.

"Thank you." she murmured, laying her head on his chest as he stood between her knees.

"S'nothin. Jus glad it's over." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. He just held her for a minute.

Amber pulled back and smiled weakly. "Wasn't as bad as last time."

"S'good. Means ya gettin better." Daryl barely got the words out. He couldn't imagine what it had been like at the hospital.

The nurse came back in then and Amber turned a bit to face her, and Daryl stepped around her leg to stand at her side, propped on his hand beside her. The nurse was well pleased with her progress, letting them know that at least half the stitches had reabsorbed and the cervical bruising was completely gone.

"You'll probably have some spotting from the exam for the next day or two."

Amber nodded.

"And you'll continue to be on complete pelvic rest for at least the next month. Nothing in the vagina." Her eyes flicked over to Daryl for a second and he felt anger hit him as the blush crept up his cheeks.

"Do you have any questions?"

Amber looked over at Daryl for a second before answering. He had a bad feeling.

"Yes, I do. I know intercourse is out, but what about other...things?"

Every muscle in Daryl's body tensed. He couldn't believe her! He looked at the floor, wishing he could crawl under it. If she hadn't just went through hell he would have kicked her ass.

"Other things...as long as it doesn't involve your pelvic area, then that's up to you. What you feel comfortable with. I will caution you against having an orgasm, which is a given I guess with the pelvic rest. The vaginal contractions that go with the female orgasm can be strong and could tear your stitches at this point. But as far as you performing orally or manually, that's fine. As long as you are okay with it mentally."

Daryl was going to die of embarrassment, he was sure of it. He turned his head toward Amber. "Done told ya no. Now quit this." he said low. She ignored him, but the nurse heard.

"Actually, Daryl, it's a fairly common question at this point." the woman went on. His head snapped over in her direction and he scowled at her. He didn't want to discuss this, especially not with a stranger. "Some women have no interest in sex for months after an attack. But others, especially younger women such as Amber, see it as part of the recovery process. Taking back their lives." He felt Amber nod against his arm, but wouldn't COULDN'T look at her.

The nurse continued. "As long as the woman has a partner who is patient and understanding, which you have exhibited during this whole visit, I have no problem with her exploring where she's at sexually at this point. As long as you're both comfortable with her stopping if she needs to, which I feel confident you would."

She turned back to Amber. "Anything else?"

Amber shook her head.

"Okay. I'll see you again in another month. Call me if you have any problems."

The second they were alone Daryl turned and growled at Amber. "I'm gonna KILL you!"

She just grinned at him. "She asked if I had any questions. My body, my questions."

He shook his head. "FUCK NO, girl." he hissed, keeping his voice low, remembering where they were. "DONE TOLD YA, we ain't doin shit right now."

Amber huffed. "Didn't say I was going to grab you and take advantage of you right here. I just asked if it was okay. And you heard her, it's part of me getting better."

Daryl put his hands on either side of her hips. "Well, ya better be fuckin glad I love ya. That's all I can say."

Amber wrapped her arms around his waist and propped her face on his chest. Daryl did his best to keep his scowl on his face as he looked down at her. It was hard knowing how badly she had been hurting minutes before.

"I'm sorry, Desperado. I would say that I didn't know you would be embarrassed, but that would be a lie. Forgive me."

Daryl put one of his hands on his hip and looked at the ceiling. "Come on. Let's go. We got two hours before my appointment for my arm. We need ta get some lunch." He wasn't talking about it anymore right now. Not here.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

They had ended up eating at the Mexican restaurant. Daryl was pleased with Amber's appetite, when they weighed her at the doctors office she had gained back five pounds since being released from the hospital. They both avoided the topic of conversation from Amber's question at the doctors office as they ate. Daryl enjoyed being out with her somewhere besides the clubhouse, despite still being a bit perturbed.

Then it was time to go to his doctor's appointment, which he hoped would be his last for a while. Amber had suggested he wear one of his black wife beaters under his black tee and he was grateful for her forethought when the doctor asked him to remove his shirt in front of the nurse. The doctor had rotated his shoulder, seeming pleased with it's range. It still had a catch of pain when he moved it a certain angle but he kept his stone face, not wanting to wear the sling anymore. Daryl was pretty sure he fooled the doctor, but Amber looked at him with a frown. She was onto him about that too. Was there anything he could keep from her?

The doc gave him permission to go without the sling (ha, permission, he had been going without it since the beginning) and said he could ride the bike for up to an hour a day, slowly working up to more if he needed. Daryl just nodded as he jerked his shirt back on, he had no plans to ride until Amber could.

They were now headed home in the early afternoon light, the windows of the truck rolled down. The air conditioner wasn't fantastic, he probably needed to take it down to the shop and have a look at it. Amber didn't seem to mind, lounging against his shoulder as the hair that had escaped her messy bun flew around her head.

"You glad you don't have to wear the sling anymore?" she asked, eyes still closed.

"Fuck yeah." Daryl let his right arm come off the back of the seat to wrap around Amber's shoulders as he pulled into the farm driveway. "Ya okay? Ya know..."

"Yeah. I'm not hurting. Probably just spot for a couple days like she said."

He took his arm out from around her after a minute so he could get the truck over the narrow dam.

"You glad you can ride the bike now?"

Daryl shrugged as he parked next to the porch. Amber had covered more ground than usual on her crutches and he knew she was tired. "I reckon. Don't really feel like ridin by m'self."

Amber shook her head as he got out and grabbed her crutches out of the back before pulling her to his door and helping her out. "You can't not ride because of me." Amber made it about three steps and Daryl could see how tired she was.

"Hold up." he said with a sigh. A minute later she was in his arms being carried through the front door.

"Daryl, just because the doctor said you were better doesn't mean you can start carrying me all the time again." Amber wasn't fighting too hard though. She laid her head on his chest and yawned as he headed to the bedroom.

"Shut up. Ya just tired."

He laid her on the bed and toed off his boots and stripped off his shirt and vest before motioning for her to move over. He reached down and pulled off her sneakers before crawling in behind her.

"This mean you're going to let me take advantage of you?" Amber asked sleepily as Daryl curled around her back.

"Fuck no. It means ya need ta take a nap."

"Asshole."

"Girl..."

"I love you, asshole. That better?"

Daryl couldn't help but chuckle against her neck. "I love ya too, smart ass. Now sleep."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber woke before Daryl did, the light coming through the window telling that it was late afternoon. She knew he was tired too when they came in. She remembered waking with flashbacks twice the night before and she was almost positive he had stayed awake to smoke a cigarette after the second one. Daryl lay in what was his favorite position lately, wrapped around her, leg between hers, hand tucked between her breast and the bed. Amber lay there for a while, just enjoying the safe feeling of him around her and the smell of smoke and leather that was him.

He sighed against her neck, pulling her tighter to him for a second and she knew he was beginning to wake. It briefly crossed Amber's mind to start something while he was still half asleep but she dismissed it immediately. That would only serve to make him mad and possibly not trust her, at least not in that department, for a while. So she twisted in Daryl's arms, moving her leg from over his so she could face him. Over the last couple days she had gained the ability to lay on her right side for a couple hours a night.

Daryl frowned in his sleep, moving his hand over her ass to seat Amber more firmly against him. She giggled quietly, who would have ever thought Daryl Dixon, the redneck crossbow-carrying outlaw biker, would be a cuddler. A look at the clock told her they had slept over two hours, he needed to wake up if he was going to sleep tonight.

"Desperado..." she murmured, kissing the scruff on his jaw. He moved his head toward her lips for a second but didn't open his eyes. Amber trailed her fingers lightly over the side of his face, and down his neck to stroke his chest over his wife beater.

"Daryl, baby, you need to wake up."

One of his eyes popped open. "I been awake."

Amber slapped at his chest and he pulled her closer to him. "How long?" she asked.

"Jus' since ya rolled over."

He stretched and she felt something familiar brush against her hip just before he quickly pulled his hips back. Amber decided to act like she hadn't noticed, for the moment.

"Why didn't you say something?"

He shrugged. "Figured I'd see if you'd behave."

Amber huffed. "Do you really think I would mess with you while you were asleep?"

"The way ya been acting lately..."

Amber punched his good shoulder and Daryl chuckled, pulling her in for a kiss with his hand on the back of her neck. Amber thought about trying to pull away, punish him a little, but that idea went out the window when his lips touched hers.

He kissed her slow, lazily, smirking against her mouth when she tried to deepen it and he resisted. One of his arms was under her head and the other was now rubbing his hand up and down her back in the same maddening rhythm as the kiss. Amber got frustrated because he wouldn't open his mouth and he was doing ON FUCKING PURPOSE so she bit his bottom lip, knowing how he would react. Daryl groaned, his fingers tightened on her back and she took her chance. The second he opened his mouth she dove in, finding his tongue and gliding over it. He groaned again and responded in kind, to her delight.

Daryl's hand went down to cup her ass and the squeeze. Amber could have cried in joy. He pulled back from her mouth and smirked at her.

"Ya little bitch, that bitin shit ain't fair..."

"Fuck fair." Amber grabbed at the hem of the wife beater and Daryl took the hint, jerking it over his head and throwing it on the floor. Their mouths met again and he kissed her like he did the night before, dominating her. It made her feel safe, like being home. She began running her hands over his chest and arms, feeling the muscles roll and move under her hands. Then she zeroed in on his nipples and thumbed them the way he did hers, while pressing her palms against the flat planes of his chest. Daryl growled and started kissing down her jaw, and then down her neck, nipping the tender skin and tasting her. He got to the strap of her tank top and hesitated. Amber didn't however. She sat up a little and pulled the shirt off and then reached for the back of her bra. Daryl went to shake his head.

"It's alright. I can't get off with just that." Amber jerked the bra off and flung it into the floor with his shirt. Daryl stopped for a second, just looking at her. He had not seen her breasts in a sexual manner for over a month.

"Touch me. Please." Amber said finally, almost whining.

Daryl swallowed and the ran the knuckles of his hand down the side of one swell.

"Always so fuckin soft..." he murmured just before bringing his head down to kiss and tongue down her chest. When he got to the peak of one breast he circled the pink pearl with his tongue slowly, making Amber's hands clutch at his hair while she arched her back to give him better access. Daryl then took it in his mouth and suckled, soft and gentle. It was so different than the hard fast way they had fucked before that it made her ache. It was like she could feel every ridge of his tongue as it slid over her nipple. He looked up at her and when their eyes locked Amber had the thought that maybe she was wrong, maybe she could come with just that.

He released her and then pushed her onto her back a little, to give the other side the same treatment. Amber was mewling, holding his head to her. Daryl let her go and licked a trail up her neck before returning to her mouth for a while. His hands came up, cupping and then squeezing her breasts over and over as he plundered her mouth.

"You enjoying yourself?" Amber asked with a grin when they pulled back to catch their breath.

"Fuck yeah. I missed'em." he said against the skin of her neck.

Their lips came together again and Amber ran her hands down his stomach to his belt. She let her fingers play over the buckle for a minute, just enjoying the pure maleness of it, before pulling it open. She unbuttoned his jeans, then did the zipper, and his cock sprang forth, covered only by the thin cotton of his boxers. She went to touch him and Daryl's hand came down to encircle her wrist. She had the sudden fear that he wasn't going to let her do it.

"Listen and listen good." he said against her lips. "If ya need ta stop, ya stop, ya hear me? I don't care if I'm almost there, ya fuckin stop."

Amber nodded. "I promise. I just want to make you feel good, baby."

He released her and her fingertips played over the hard length straining against his boxers. Daryl hissed and pressed his face into her neck. "Fuck, ain't gonna last 'bout three seconds no way."

"It's alright." Amber murmured against his hair. "It's been ten years since I did this, so my technique isn't going to be perfect. And the way we're laying, I'm gonna have to do it left handed."

Daryl's arm tightened around her back, the other going to grab the top of her brace. Amber figured he was going to roll her over, then crawl over her to lay against the wall. Instead he rolled onto his back, taking her over with him. For one glorious moment she was laying on top of his hard body. But then Daryl turned the rest of the way. Now she wasn't laying on her 'smart hand' and could work better. Amber had a thought and flung her arm behind her to snag Daryl's vest off the floor. He gave her a confused look until she pulled out the black bandana that he carried in one of the pockets.

"Told you I was out of practice. Almost forgot we would need something. Take your pants off."

Daryl rolled over on his back and pushed his jeans and boxers down to his thighs and then looked over at Amber questioningly.

"Yes, all the way off. I need room to work."

He rolled his eyes but shucked his jeans and boxers as she arranged the bandana across her stomach. He rolled back to her and then he was pressing hard and hot into her belly. Amber reached down and circled her fingers around his cock for the first time in over a month. Daryl grunted the second she touched him and jerked. Amber looked at his face, his eyes were closed but the blush was creeping up.

"Hey, Desperado, look at me." she said softly and he finally opened his eyes. "It's just me, just baby girl. You've fucked me just about every way possible. I think we can handle a hand job. Now relax."

He nodded and swallowed hard. "Jus' missed ya, girl."

Amber leaned to him and kissed the tattoo on his chest, running her tongue over it. "I've missed you to. That's why I want this." This was awkward. They could handle awkward sex, or fooling around or whatever this was. What she couldn't handle was not being intimate with him at all.

Daryl relaxed against her a little and Amber began to stroke him slowly. One of his hands went to her breast and the other slid into the back of her shorts, kneading her ass through her panties. Amber marveled at how he felt in her hand, like steel covered in velvet, throbbing and thick. They had always been in such a hurry to get him in her pussy or her mouth that she hadn't taken the time to really admire his member.

Daryl pulled his hand out of her shorts and wrapped it around her hand that was working him, tightening up her grip. He immediately shuddered and groaned.

"Fuck, yes. Like that, ya ain't gonna hurt me."

He put his hand back down in her shorts, satisfied with her technique now. Amber wasn't offended, she wanted him to show her what he needed. She sped up a little and he nodded against her neck, sucking on the skin where it met her shoulder. The head of his cock brushed against where the bandana lay on her stomach and he jerked against her. Amber made it do it again, and the reaction was the same. She looked down and decided awkward was awkward, and dirty was dirty. Might as well do it right.

She pulled the bandana off her stomach with her free hand and now his head was brushing the soft skin of her stomach with every stroke. Daryl grunted against her in approval. He lifted his top leg a little and she knew what he wanted without him asking. She snaked her left hand down below where the other was working and cupped his balls.

"Roll'em, like when ya work'em with ya mouth." he said, voice sounded strangled. She did as directed and he groaned low, his hips bucking. He was close. Amber had wanted to watch his face as he came but he pressed into her shoulder. It didn't bother her that much because he began biting and sucking her skin, making an animalistic noise in his throat. His hands became rougher against her body, demanding of her flesh. Amber loved this, working him like this. She felt totally in control of him, pleasuring him this way.

"Aw, fuck, girl..." he groaned, legs beginning to tense up. Amber tightened up her hand a little more, sped up her stroke, and let his head bump against her a bit harder. The second his balls went to draw up, she tugged downward and he was gone.

Daryl roared against her skin, muffling his cries, as he bucked against her, his seed hot on her skin. She continued stroking his cock as it pulsed, keeping the gentle tension below. Daryl shuddered against her and turned his head to bite her neck hard. Amber let him have it gladly, it had been so long since he had marked her as his, the pain was sweet joy.

She finally released him as he began to soften, his body relaxing. Grabbing the bandana where she had stowed it under the pillow, she quickly cleaned herself up before he opened his eyes and threw the square of fabric on the floor behind her.

Daryl's breathing evened out a bit and his arms slipped around her, pulling her body against his. He finally opened his eyes and searched her face. She knew he was looking for any signs of doubt or regret. He didn't find them, Amber just grinned at him smugly.

"Don't be lookin at me like that, all proud and shit." he grumbled. Amber could see his lip trying to turn up though.

"Oh I am. Very. You enjoy yourself?"

"Nope." he kissed her lips sweetly. "Sure didn't, that's why I came all over your belly and yelled like a fuckin pussy."

Amber giggled, shaking her head as she swatted his ass. "You're so nasty."

Daryl pulled her closer to him, setting his chin on top of her head. "Your fault. I do and say shit now I never did, till you."

"I've taught you well."

"I reckon ya have, baby girl."


	56. Chapter 56

**This is a lot of dialog, but it gets us where we are going! Thank you to all who read and/or review this story. You guys are so awesome! I am already developing my ideas for the sequel "Better Dig Two" and ...oh Lord. The smut, the angst, the action..Lordy...but we gotta finish this baby up first. And there's still a bit to go!**

"So what do you want for supper?"

Amber was balanced on her crutches in front of the open refrigerator door as Daryl flopped down on the couch in a half lay half sit. He shrugged, grabbing his cigarettes off the end table.

"Don't care. Ya ain't gotta cook, we could eat sandwiches. Light this, will ya?"

Amber looked up and rolled her eyes before making her way the few steps over to the couch to take it from him, along with his lighter. She lit it for him and held it to his mouth. Daryl made sure to let his lips linger in her fingertips for a second as he took it.

"Throw me a beer when ya get back over ta tha fridge?" He asked, around the filter that was clenched in his front teeth.

Amber chuckled as she made her way back into the kitchen. "You don't ask for much, Desperado. Got a hand job, I lit your smoke, and now the beer. Anything else? A back rub maybe?"

Daryl snagged the book he had been working on off the back of the couch, catching the beer Amber threw him deftly with his free hand. "Ya always light m'smokes. Ya already standin right there where tha beer's at. And tha other was your idea." He eyed her mischievously over his book before pointing at her with the cigarette in his fingers. "I think ya just wanted ta get ya hands on m'dick."

Amber bent over, hiding her face behind the open fridge door. He was partly right. "I guess we'll have sandwiches. It's too late for you to go out to hunt. And it's slim pickings in here except for beer and coffee creamer. We need to go grocery shopping."

"S'fine. I'll go t'morra when ya Maw can stay with ya. Make me up a list."

Amber closed the door and and gave him a frown. "I'm going to, I'm fine on the crutches."

Daryl just shrugged again. She was stubborn, there was no getting around it. It was one of the things he liked about her. He looked up, hearing something. Then a light flashed through the front windows.

"You expectin somebody?" Daryl asked, putting his book and drink down on the end table to look out the window.

Amber shook her head and set down the bread she had just picked up. "Not that I know of."

"S'a bike. Norm n' Kaye?" Daryl turned, headed to the bedroom. Amber knew he was going to put on shirt, having come out with just his jeans on. She moved to look out the window herself and confirmed. Her 'aunt' and 'uncle' walked up the front porch steps, hand in hand. That was a relief, after what happened at the clubhouse with Norm and the skank a couple weeks ago Amber had been worried about them.

She had the door open, inviting them in before Kaye had a chance to knock. The women took a seat on the couch but Norm just propped on his elbow on the bar that separated the kitchen from the living area. Daryl came back from the bedroom and didn't even stop, just walked past the older man to the fridge, grabbing a beer for the two of them. He set one down in front of Norm and then pulled out a barstool for himself. Before he could sit, Kaye stopped him.

"Why don't you two go down to the dock and let me and baby girl talk?" she suggested, looking at the men.

Daryl looked between their guests suspiciously. He had he feeling that this wasn't just a social call.

"Go ahead." Amber motioned toward the door, smiling at Daryl. Before he looked away she widened her eyes a bit and gave him a tiny shrug. She saw that something was up too.

"A'ight." he agreed quietly, slipping on his boots before grabbing his beer. He jerked his head at Norm to follow him down to the dock in the waning light of the sunset. They ended up sitting on opposite sides, each with his back against one of the pylons. Daryl took a pull of his beer as he looked over the water, waiting on him to say whatever it was he was going to say. Norm pulled his cigarettes out of his vest, lighting one and then offering Daryl one since he had left his up at the house.

"Not your brand, but I guess I owe you one for the drink."

Daryl took it, lighting it with Norm's lighter.

"So what's this about?" he finally asked, not willing to wait any longer.

Norm sighed and took a drag of his cig before he answered. "Can I talk to you without you losing your shit and stomping off or taking a swing at me?"

"Depends on what it's about." Daryl said plainly.

Norm nodded. "Just hear me out."

Daryl turned to look at him. "Jus fuckin say it."

"You and baby girl need to change your minds about the money."

He shook his head. "Not happenin. Ever."

"Listen, alright? I promised Kaye I would talk to you about it. Let me have my say, and then if you still want to leave it, fine."

Daryl finished his beer in one drink and then threw the bottle into the pond before drawing up his knee to rest his arm on. "Ya can talk till ya blue in tha face, I don't give a fuck."

Norm sighed and shook his head slowly. "You are one stubborn ass, boy. You know that?"

Daryl shrugged and flicked his ash into the water below. "Go 'head and say what ya gotta say."

"I know you think this is protecting her. I thought I was protecting Kaye by keeping that secret for twenty years too. And all it did was hurt her."

Daryl bristled. "Don't ya say what I'm doin is like you fuckin lyin. Shit ain't the same!"

"I thought you were going to let me talk? Baby girl ain't gonna be able to work for a long time, if ever. And we both know you'll take care of her. But at what cost? You'll work yourself to death here on this farm. And it won't be enough for what you'll want to give her. Barry will be asking you if you want to join in on runs once she's better."

Daryl shrugged. "Figured that. S'part of it. Ain't got a problem with it after what we did last month."

"Yeah it is part of it. But you want to have a choice when he asks you. Some jobs are more dangerous, and those are the ones that pay more. Once you see you can make more on one run than in a month as a farm hand, you'll feel like you got to do EVERY run. All you'll be able to see is how you can take care of her, give her things. I got sent away for a damn year, a month after me and Kaye got married. You don't want to risk that, or maybe even worse, not comin back at all." Norm let it all out in a rush, having practiced this speech in his head over the last day and a half. He hated talking, but he had promised his wife.

"I ain't takin that bastard's money." Daryl's voice was quieter and Norm knew he was beginning to doubt the decision.

"What if she wanted to? If she said different?"

Daryl's head snapped up. "Your old lady best not be up there upsettin her."

Norm put his hand up. "Keep your drawers on, boy. They're just talking. You know she wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world."

Daryl sighed and flicked his cigarette butt off to the side. "So your okay with takin it? After what happened?"

"Didn't have a choice. Kaye went and paid off the junkyard. Bought Ella a car. You mean to tell me there ain't ONE THING you can think of that you could do for her, with that cash?" Norm reached into his pocket and threw Daryl his cigarettes and lighter before he could gnaw his thumb off. Daryl quickly lit another and tossed it back. He just sat and smoked for a minute, looking out across the water. Then he scrambled to his feet, headed back up the hill. Norm followed him, sure he had failed in his task. But instead of heading into the house Daryl stopped at his truck, rummaging in the tool box before coming out with a flash light. "C'mon." he mumbled, walking around the side of the house, not looking behind to see if Norm was following.

They walked in silence for a while before the older man spoke. "We headed somewhere? Or you just taking me out here for a romantic moment?"

Daryl huffed and rolled his eyes. "Shut the fuck up, smart ass. Gonna show ya somethin."

"That's kinda what I'm afraid of." Norm said straight faced.

Daryl just drew ahead, ignoring him. After a few more minutes they stepped out into the clearing. They approached the old homestead, the light from the flashlight bobbing across the porch. Daryl swept it over the entirety of the building, bottom to top and back again before looking over at Norm nervously.

The older man nodded slowly. "You want to redo it?"

"Naw, not really. There's a leak in tha roof, termites. I ain't found a good beam or stud yet. But figured I could build another on the pond. Use the good paneling and shit from this one as much as I could. Make it old like she likes."

Norm ground his cigarette out under the heel of his boot and was quiet for a moment, thinking before he spoke. This was a pivotal moment. He decided that with Daryl, simple and plain was best. "Gonna take a lot, even with using stuff from this one. But I can't think of anything better to do with that money." He turned to look at Daryl seriously. "And every time you drive a nail, you'll be putting it into that bastard's eye."

They were back at the house before Daryl said anything. He had been in his own head on the way back and Norm let him have it. He needed the time to think about it.

"I ain't bringin it up to baby girl. But if she says somethin, I'll listen to'er." Daryl said as he stowed the flashlight back in the toolbox.

"Fair enough." Norm followed him back into the trailer. It was more than what he had expected

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As soon as the men left the trailer, Amber turned to Kaye and asked. "Is there something wrong? Did daddy send you?"

Kaye shook her head. "No, girl. Everything's fine. I could use a drink though."

Amber went to get up but she stopped her. "It's fine, I'll get it. You don't happen to have any of that Tennessee Honey stuff do you?"

Amber raised her eyebrow, if Kaye was going for the hard stuff, something was wrong. "Yeah, there's a bottle in the freezer. Glasses are over the sink."

A couple minutes later they both had their drinks and sat on opposite sides of the couch facing each other. Amber realized Kaye was staring at her neck. She had forgotten Daryl had bitten her in the bedroom. She brought her hand up to touch the mark and looked down at her drink.

"Everything alright?" Kaye asked quietly.

Amber looked up at her and smirked. "Yeah. It was my idea. I can't have sex yet but the doctor said we could do other stuff. I had to convince him, I promise."

Kaye nodded. "I didn't think he would push you to do anything, he's not like that. But...it's just quick baby girl. It's only been a month."

"I'm fine Kaye. There's a big difference between a week and one night." Kaye tensed visibly and Amber reached out to take her hand. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said that. But...I just need him. I'm not scared with Daryl."

Kaye squeezed her hand. "It's alright. I guess we just assumed it would take you as long as it did me. But you're right, what happened is different. And we're different."

Amber let her hand go after a moment and leaned back on the arm of the couch. "So why are y'all here?"

"You need to take the money." There was no round about way to say it.

Amber shook her head. "No. I can't, it's his."

"No, it's not. It's mine. I'm the one that had to deal with where it came from."

"And have you?" Amber asked, honestly curious.

Kaye shrugged. "As much as I can. I didn't give all of it away. You and Daryl are making a mistake."

"We'll be fine."

"Just listen, okay?" Amber just looked down, swirling her drink. Kaye took that as permission to go on. "From what I know, Daryl has been dirt poor his whole life. Right?"

"Yeah, from what he's told me."

"He has no idea what this amount of money can do, it's just some number with a lot of zeros to him. But you know. He'll work himself to death for you. Is that what you want?"

"So you're going to guilt me into taking it?" Amber asked, sounding hurt.

"No, I'm just telling the truth. We both know that your daddy will start including him on runs when you're well. And once he sees how much money he can make...you know what will happen. For the last twenty years, Norm worked days in the junkyard, and nights on the road. You can't risk losing Daryl to jail or worse."

Amber turned her head to look out the window. She saw the light of a flashlight in the backyard, Norm must be having his own discussion with Daryl. Her 'aunt' and 'uncle' weren't above divide and conquer tactics, apparently.

"He's taking his ink, he'll be going on runs anyway." she said, as if assuring herself instead of Kaye.

"But if you two aren't dependent on the money he can pick and choose. Some are worse than others, you know that." She scooted closer to Amber, putting her arm around her shoulders. The younger woman leaned into her and lay her head on Kaye's shoulder.

"Think about how you can change his life. Your life too. There's a long recovery ahead you still. Please baby girl...this money isn't from the one that hurt you. It's from me. It's two hundred and fifty thousand knives you two can stick into that monster, over and over, every day."

Amber sighed. "We'll talk about it. It's the best I can do. And he'll probably still say no. I'm not taking it unless he wants to, he's more important to me than the money."

Kaye tightened her arm up around Amber, hugging her for a second. "That's all I ask."

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Norm and Kaye left quickly after the men came in. The tension was thick as Amber threw together a quick light summer supper of tomato sandwiches and chips for her and Daryl. Neither really feel like eating anyway. They didn't bring up the money, didn't really talk at all. They just picked at their food as they sat at the bar, Daryl paying more attention to his beer and cigarette than the sandwich. Amber worked on her second glass of whiskey as she put an occasional chip in her mouth. Finally they decided they were done and moved to the couch, Amber sitting and Daryl laying with his head in her lap and a smoke in the corner of his mouth. She knew he was nervous because he had chain smoked from the time he came in and drank two more beers. Good thing he had a high tolerance or he would have already been asleep.

Amber ran her hands through his hair, trying to get rid of some of the tension she could feel in his body. Daryl just smoked and looked at the ceiling. She knew what he was doing, he was waiting on her to bring it up.

"So Norm talked to you about the same thing, huh?" she asked, at a loss of any other way to start the conversation.

"Yeah. Guess so." he murmured, eyes still on the ceiling.

"Can you please relax and look at me?" she pleaded quietly, tugging on his hair a little. Daryl stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray at her feet and ran his hand over his face. He finally looked up at Amber.

"What do you want to do?" She asked, wanting to base her answer on his.

"Whatever. It's up ta you." Well, that was no help.

Amber groaned. "Daryl, you're going to have to help me out here. I can't make this decision myself."

He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes for a second. "Fuck, girl. It's about ya though. Your tha one that's hurt. I cain't...dammit. Jus tell me what ya think. Then I'll let ya know mine."

"That's not fair. You'll change based on what I say. I'm not stupid."

Daryl took his hands from his face, looking up at her as if he had an idea. "Can we sleep on it? I'd like ta show ya somethin once it's light. Then let ya decide."

"You can show me. But then WE decide, okay? Not me."

"Fuck." Daryl grumbled. "Reckon yer Paw'd let us use that four wheeler he rides when he checks the cows in the mornin?"

"Don't see why not. The keys stay hanging with all the others in the shop."

"A'ight then. Now let's talk about somethin else." he smirked up at her. "For breakfast, fix somethin that we can take with us when we go look at...what I got ta show ya."

"Like a picnic?"

He shrugged. "Nothin that big. Just some sausage biscuits and coffee or somethin."

"Okay." Amber agreed, her tension at the subject being replaced by intrigue. If they were taking the four wheeler they weren't leaving the property. What could he be wanting to show her at her own home that would influence their decision to take the money?


	57. Chapter 57

**Wow, really long update! I really couldn't find a good place to break it up. Also, I didn't intend the beginning of this chapter to go the way it did, but Daryl and Amber just flipped me off and said "We'll do what we damn well please." Eh, what am I going to do with them?**

Daryl woke up to the sound of Amber moving around in the kitchen and a cold bed. He groaned, rolling over, not very happy with the fact she wasn't next to him. Then he heard Merle's voice and his morning got a little worse. Why the fuck was he here this early? A look over at the clock (the same one that had hit Daryl in the back not too long ago) confirmed that it was indeed to early for Merle to be there, seven thirty am to be exact.

By the time Daryl jerked his jeans on, and made a pit stop in the bathroom (how much beer did he drink last night, anyway?) his brother was walking out the door, just throwing his hand up as he made his way to work. Amber had her back to him as she worked at the sink. It looked like all she was wearing was that same huge sleep shirt she wore the first night he slept on her couch, even though he knew she probably had on those tiny sleep shorts she had also worn that night. He snuck up behind her, quickly, slipping his arms between her sides and her crutches and around her stomach. To his surprise, Amber didn't jump, just pressing back against him a bit as she worked.

"Morning Desperado. I was wondering when you were going to join the living."

Daryl bent over to press a kiss into the crook of Amber's neck. He was well pleased with himself when her skin prickled in gooseflesh. "Mornin. What was dumbass doin here this time a day?"

"Be nice. I texted and asked him to bring me these from Mamaw's for our breakfast. They're probably the last of this years crop."

Daryl was already eyeballing the bowl of strawberries and blackberries that Amber had sugared and was now tossing carefully with a big wooden spoon. He took his hand off her belly to snatch a strawberry and pop it into his mouth. He suddenly wasn't as perturbed at Merle anymore. That shit was good.

She swatted at him, "Stop it! Those are for breakfast! You can wait!"

Daryl just chuckled and grabbed a blackberry. Then he grinned evilly, suddenly with an idea. Her hair was already piled on her head like she usually wore it when she worked in the kitchen. So he just pushed a few loose strands away from the side of her neck and then the sticky sweet blackberry traveled down her skin. Amber just jumped a little when it first made contact and then sighed and tilted her head over to give better access. Daryl crushed the berry a little against her skin, so it left a purple trail of sugar and juice, ending on the bite mark he had made the night before. Then he held it to her lips. Amber took it, making sure to suck on his fingers as she did. Daryl groaned a little as he ducked his head. He hadn't been expecting to start something like this when he came in here but damn if he didn't like where it was going. His mouth moved over the purple trail on her neck, sucking up the syrupy juice. He ended on the bite mark, making sure to spend some extra time there. Her wearing his marks again was a turn on too.

Amber's hands had left the bowl and spoon, coming up to put her fingers in his hair on the side where he worked, the other hand going to cover his on her stomach.

"Don't want ya goin like this in front a Merle anymore, a'ight?" he murmured in her ear after finding every trace of blackberry and sugar he could on her skin.

"Like what?" Amber gasped, Daryl's hands had found the hem of her shirt and now rested on her hips just above the waistband of the sleep shorts.

"Wearin this shit, ya know what I mean."

"It's just Merle."

"Don't care. He's a pervert. Now hush." Amber didn't remind him that he was the one that brought his brother up. Daryl's hands moved up the skin of her stomach to cup her breasts. He hissed when there was no barrier between his fingers and her skin.

"And ya sure as fuck don't need ta be goin without a bra in front of him." he growled, turning Amber in his arms so that she faced him. He grabbed her hips and lifted her onto the counter, moving a little to the side of the bowl of berries. This was quickly becoming one of their best breakfasts ever. Now they were nearly on the same level he crushed his mouth to hers. Fuck, she tasted like sugar and blackberry on top of her cool water taste and he was going to die right there in that kitchen, he was sure of it. His hands found her breasts again and to his surprise Amber just ripped the sleep shirt off over her head in one swift motion. She leaned back on the counter, giving him what he wanted. Daryl leaned forward, mouth going to one pink peak where his thumb had already been rolling over it. As soon as he had it in his mouth, that hand left her breast to dig in the bowl next to her hip. He came up with a dripping strawberry and released her nipple. A second later the sticky fruit was sliding across the bud, as Daryl looked up at Amber, a smirk playing across his face. She nodded back, her back arching in pleasure and just the image of what he was doing. He removed the berry and she opened her mouth. He let her have it, after all it was only fair since he was getting the real treat.

Daryl's head came down and he was sucking the strawberry off of her, sliding his tongue over the peak, now even more sweet than usual. He groaned around her at the taste and Amber jerked against him at the vibration. He smirked, coming back up, unable to stay away from her mouth any longer. Her lips were sticky and he decided quickly that wouldn't do at all. He licked the sugar from her and dove into her mouth, devouring her as he put his hands under her ass to jerk her to the edge of the counter.

The second Amber was fully against him she ground her hips against his jean clad erection and Daryl moaned in her mouth. Amber grinned against him, obviously proud of herself. She did it again, hooking her left leg around his hip. Daryl bucked into her out of instinct and she urged him on, pulling him to her with her calf pressing against his ass. Her hands splayed across his chest and then she pinched his nipples, not very hard like when she stopped him from coming that one time, but just hard enough, nearly having just the opposite effect. Daryl found himself suddenly close to the point of no return, his balls beginning to draw up. He stopped moving against her, hands going to her hips to stop her grinding.

"Stop." he husked out, more to himself than her.

Amber shook her head franticly, her hands pushing his off her hips. "No, Daryl, please. Just do it. Come for me." she pleaded.

He looked down at her for a second. Her chest was heaving, one nipple more pink from the strawberry. The mark from the blackberry was still on her neck (he had forgotten that those stained) and it ended with his teeth marks. She looked up at him, eyes begging him, not for her own release but for his.

"Aw, fuck it." he growled out, hands going back to her ass. He seated her against him more firmly with one swift pull. Amber nodded her approval as their mouths met, biting his bottom lip to restart what he had stopped. He kept one hand on her ass to keep the pressure against his straining cock and the other went to her hair, tightening his hand in it to tilt her head, taking control of her mouth. Amber's hands went back to his nipples, rolling in a maddening rhythm that had him wondering why the fuck he had never liked that shit before her. It didn't occur to him that Amber was the only woman he had ever dared take his shirt off for.

He bucked against her, it wasn't what he really wanted. What he really wanted was to be balls deep inside her, with her screaming his name as she slammed down around him. But this would have to do, at least for the moment. He quickly realized it was going to do because less than a minute after they resumed he felt it building, his body tensing. Amber must have felt it too, because she sped up the motions of her hands and hips, getting a little rougher. He bucked harder, his hand on her ass pulling her as close as he could, unable to get close enough.

Then it was suddenly all sensation, no thought. Her warm pressure against his cock through their clothes, the feeling of her fingertips on his nipples, shared tastes of berries and sugar between their mouths, hot and cool dancing together across their tongues. He pressed up on the balls of his feet, nearly pushing her back on the counter as his body instinctively tried to find something it couldn't have yet. Amber reached up to lock her hands behind his neck as he began to shudder. He broke the kiss, but his face remained nearly touching hers, his eyes tightly shut. He didn't roar this time, just groaned loudly through clenched teeth as he pressed his forehead to hers.

Amber held on to him as he stiffened and took him in, in every way except the one she really wanted to. Finally Daryl sagged against her and dropped his head next to hers, breathe heaving out of his chest. It took a minute for his breathing to return to near normal, the wet of his release making his jeans increasingly uncomfortable. He looked at her hesitantly, afraid of what he'd see despite her urging him on seconds before.

Amber grinned. "That was hot as hell, Desperado." she said breathlessly.

Daryl let out a breath, the weight of doubt leaving as quickly as it came. He shook his head slowly as he smirked. "What am I gonna do with you, girl?"

Amber wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I bet I can find something, here in about a month."

"Pfft," he scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, I bet ya can." He grew a bit serious. "We ain't gonna start doin this shit all the time, not with ya not able ta get off too. It ain't fair."

She shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Ya heard what I said."

"Whatever. Now you go get in the shower while I finish breakfast."

Daryl pulled her down off the counter after he pulled her shirt back over her head. He kissed her once, quickly and then turned as soon as he knew she was steady on her crutches. She might be okay with it, but he was getting into the shower and some clean jeans as soon as possible.

Daryl still had a smirk on his face as he headed to the bathroom, sucking the sticky tip of his finger thoughtfully. He fuckin loved berries and sugar now.

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Amber washed her hands and set back to fixing their breakfast. She was pretty sure she had the female of equivalent of blue balls, her lower gut aching with an accumulation of blood that needed the spasm of orgasm to route it elsewhere. This was going to be a long month until the doctor could even possibly give her the all clear. If she couldn't have sex, at least maybe the stitches would all be absorbed and she could get off. The more Daryl took her body back the better she felt, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. What they had started to build in the weeks before had been kicked back to square one by 'him' (she refused to used her rapist's name, even in thought, instead thinking 'him' or 'that monster'). All she wanted was her life back.

Watching Daryl as he came this morning was well worth her current discomfort though. He had shuddered against her, his face tense as he groaned hotly. It wouldn't be something she would soon forget. Neither would the bit with the berries. He was coming back out of his shell sexually, becoming confident again. That excited her beyond anything else. She knew he wasn't hugely experienced and that was hot. There was a lot she wanted to do with him, once she was better. Things she had always wanted but never had a partner who was into the same things as her until Daryl. And she's be damned if 'that monster' took that away from her.

Amber was packing their breakfast into plastic containers, and then the basket she had Merle bring down from her Mamaw's with the berries. Daryl came out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist as he walked to their bedroom. Amber had to bite back a groan at his back and shoulders. He had been good looking before, better than good looking. But now, holy shit. The weight he had put on since she started cooking for him had made him...she searched mentally for the right word. Meaty? No...Manly?...No, that wasn't right either, he was manly before. Whatever it was, it made her want to take off her clothes and roll all over him.

She chuckled at herself and looked back down as she packed the basket. She had it bad, for the first time ever. And she could totally see the Demon ink across his back in her minds eye. The 'Demons' rocker across the top, between his shoulders. The artist they used would be able to work the end of the word in with the demons he already had on his shoulder. He was that good. And then the image of whatever personal demon Daryl chose below it, with the name of it in the bottom rocker across his mid back. Amber knew she needed to pull up the list and description of all the available choices so he could pick. She had an idea of the ones he would like, but the choice had to be his. Each man of the club chose their personal demons they wore on their backs for their own reasons. Norm wore Arioch, demon of vengeance. Her father chose Marchosias, the great warrior.

She was broken from her thoughts when Daryl came out of the bedroom, wearing a black fitted wife beater and his most worn pair of jeans as he buckled his belt. She couldn't help but smirk at him when he did it. Daryl saw her and just rolled his eyes as he bent over for his boots. Amber had become accustomed to his change over to black for most of his clothes. But it was apparent he had caught on to the belt kink she had. That was one of the many things she wanted to explore once her lady bits were cleared for take off. Her cheeks flamed hot when she caught sight of his ass in the jeans as he bent over. Maybe meaty was the right word after all.

"Ya done eye fuckin me so I can go get tha four wheeler?"

Amber jumped, not realizing Daryl now stood in front of her, hip cocked out with his hand on it. She narrowed her eyes at him as her face burned. This was backwards! She was the one that made him blush, not the other way around!

"Yes...I mean...I wasn't...Dammit Daryl! Go get the damn thing!" she stammered, focusing on pouring the coffee into the thermos in front of her. He just chuckled and nodded, turning out the door to walk up to the shop.

By the time the quad rumbled into the yard she had everything packed and sitting on the counter and had changed into the pink camo tank that he liked, brown shorts and a pair of ankle high hiking boots. Not like she was going to do any hiking with her leg like it was but the therapist had vetoed her use of flip flops for the time being.

When Daryl came in the house his face burned red and his eyes were on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked, concerned.

Daryl picked up the basket and the blanket she had set on top. "Ya Paw was up at the shop when I got the keys."

"So? He didn't have a problem with us taking it did he?"

Daryl shook his head.

"What happened then?"

"Asked me if the strawberries were good."

Amber bit back a laugh. "What did you say?"

Daryl shrugged, smirking a bit. "Told him they was the best I ever had. I ain't one ta lie, girl."

Amber nodded, grinning. "So what's the big deal?"

He grew serious again. "My fuckin pervert brother."

Amber's mouth fell open. This couldn't be good. "Oh shit, Daryl. He was there too? What did he say?"

Daryl looked at the floor and mumbled something.

"Huh?"

He sighed and looked at her, cheeks flaming. "He told'im I might like strawberries, but beaver was m'favorite thing ta eat."

Daryl just stomped out to the quad with the basket as Amber lay over the counter screaming laughing. She still hadn't composed herself when he came in so he just stood there with his hands on his hips until she looked up. She had tears streaming down her face and the pissed look he wore just set her off again. Finally she held up her hands, gasping.

"Sorry...I'm sorry...but that's just funny..."

"Ain't funny. Fuckin embarrassin is what it is!"

"Relax, Daryl. Did Papaw get what he meant?"

"Hell naw."

"Then calm down. That's Merle being Merle."

"I'll be glad when he starts bringin Beth or somebody around, I'll get his ass!"

"I bet you will." Amber grinned. "Now are you ready to go?"

"Hold on." Daryl grabbed his book off the back of the couch and pulled out a sheet of folded paper he had been using as a bookmark to slip it in his back pocket. Amber started to ask what it was but decided against it. It must be part of what he was showing her. She reached for her crutches but he shook his head, scooping her up a second later.

"Ya ain't gonna need'em where we're goin."

A minute later she was seated sideways on the back of the quad out next to the steps. It was one of the biggest ones made, easily able to carry two people plus a bale or two of hay on the back. Daryl had set Amber carefully across the back, her leg propped on the hay rack on the opposite fender. Then he climbed on in front of her and cranked it. He babied it around the steep hill at the side of the house, and then up the slight incline of the back yard into the woods. Amber had absolutely no clue where they were headed so she just enjoyed being with him, in the woods he loved so much. Daryl obviously had a specific destination in mind as he guided the quad between the pines. After a few minutes she got her bearings and wasn't surprised when they emerged at the clearing that surrounded the old homestead. He pulled up next to the steps to the porch and just sat there for a second, like he was trying to get his nerve up. Amber sat quietly, letting him have the moment for whatever he needed. She was reminded of the enormity of the decision they were making that morning.

Daryl then stepped off the quad and turned back to her nervously as he grabbed the basket and blanket.

"Jus lemme take this in an I'll be out ta get ya." he said quietly before disappearing into the house. Amber pondered his change in mood while he was gone. There wasn't anything in the homestead she hadn't seen before. It had been a favorite childhood play place of hers until her Mamaw and Mama had deemed it too dangerous to be in alone.

He reappeared after a few minutes, picking up Amber wordlessly and carrying her up the steps, through the porch and into the living room. He went to walk through into the kitchen, where she could see he had laid out the blanket.

"Hold on a minute." she stopped him. "Set me down at the fireplace."

Daryl looked at her oddly but nodded and put her down to sit on the stone hearth. Amber ran her hand over the rough stone slowly.

"It's beautiful, isn't it." she sighed, "So old and solid." She heard Daryl let out a breath as if in relief but when she looked at him he just nodded slowly. He reminded her of how he used to be, before they ever slept together, all uncertain and silent body language. Amber ducked her head to look at one of the stones in the base, finally grinning and pointing out a spot on the rock. Daryl looked and smirked when he saw her name, in childlike scrawl, scratched into the surface as if done with a small rock or a stick. He had missed that before, not having bent down to look at the lower stones.

"I think I was about seven when I did that."

Amber pulled herself up to a stand and Daryl took that as a sign that she was ready to go to the kitchen. He picked her up and they moved in there, to sit on the blanket. She busied herself unpacking their now late breakfast of sausage biscuits and the sugared fruit. Daryl stayed silent, just taking his plate when she handed it to him. She poured his coffee and then hers, doctoring her's up with the creamer and sugar from containers she had brought. They ate for a few minutes before she could stand it no longer.

"What did you want to show me?"

Daryl froze, his fork halfway to his mouth as his eyes came up from his plate. He put the plate to the side and then looked at her intensely, almost as if trying to read her mind. He looked around and gestured at the walls.

"Ya like this place, right?" he asked as if afraid of her answer.

"Well, of course I do. You know me well enough to guess that. It just feels...I don't know...solid...real. Like something that will last forever. Does that sound stupid?"

Daryl shook his head. "Naw, girl. Yer right, it does feel that way." he hesitated, "Ya like...the floors, the cabinets, all that stuff?"

Amber smiled and looked around. "Papaw's daddy built this whole place himself. Cut the wood from this place, built it all. It's beautiful. Simple and old, I love it. That's why I used to come play here when I was little. It was my playhouse. My dream house I guess. Other little girls want castles, I wanted a farmhouse. A little weird I know." She looked down for a minute until she heard a rustle of paper. Daryl laid the paper he had been using as a bookmark in her lap, now unfolded. She noted that his hand was shaking when he did it. She looked up at him but he just chewed on his thumbnail and glanced down at the paper, telling her to look at it in his own way.

She picked it up, taking a real look at it. It was a floor plan, simple but well thought out. A large kitchen, living area with fireplace prominently marked, a couple bedrooms with another fireplace in the master. Two bathrooms. Amber's mind started working on overdrive, realizing what he was getting at. Her head snapped up to look at him wide eyed.

"A...a house?" she gasped out.

Daryl started to nod and then shrugged, looking at her fearfully.

"Sorry, Daryl. Shrugs and nods aren't going to cut it on this one, baby. I need you to talk to me, bad." Amber was starting to panic a little. No one had ever even offered to do something this...this important, immense, this damn heartfelt for her.

Daryl's eyes went wide for a second and he swallowed hard. "Jus an idea. Been comin up here when I go out. Even before we knew 'bout the money. Wanted ta build it..."

Amber held her hand up. "Whoa...just whoa. You want to build this? Like yourself? Not hire somebody?"

Daryl looked a little insulted. "Worked construction since I was sixteen, girl. Know most of it. Could hire out what I don't.

Amber felt like her heart was going to hammer out of her chest. She just fluttered her hands at him, telling him to go on. Daryl motioned around them. "Could pull the cabinets, floors, panelin, what ever we could out of here. Fireplaces a course." He scooted closer to Amber, his interest in the project making him lose a little of his nervousness. He ended up sitting side by side, facing each other with their thighs touching. He pointed out the fireplaces on the paper. "Put it behind where the trailer is. Still give...um...plenty a room around it. Leave ya wildflowers an all that. Ain't gotta be like I drew it, jus however ya want. Inside too. Jus whatever ya like." His voice trailed off. Amber pulled her good knee up, a choked sound coming out of her throat. Her chin quivered and she knew it was coming. Daryl must have realized it too.

"Aw, shit girl..." he murmured a second before she started sobbing. He pulled her over into his chest and let her just cry for a minute before he said anything.

"Girl...I...ah...ya know I ain't good at this shit. Are ya cryin cause ya like it, like tha flowers or cause I fucked up? I ain't got a damn clue."

Amber brought her face up so that their foreheads were touching. Daryl wiped the tears off her cheeks, unable to bear seeing them there no matter what emotion caused them. New ones balanced precariously on her lashes as she looked at him. She wanted to ask him if he was sure, if he really wanted to do this for her. But she knew Daryl well enough to know he wouldn't have told her if he wasn't. He didn't expose himself like this easily.

"Like the flowers, Desperado. But about a billion times better." she choked out.

"So, what are ya sayin?"

Amber studied him for a minute. "If you want to..."

"Only if ya can. I ain't tellin ya to. Jus sayin what I'd like ta do for ya with part of it, if ya did, if ya wanted that. It ain't worth ya sleep, girl." He said quickly.

Amber looked down at the dusty, now tear stained paper in her hands. It now seemed like the most important piece of paper in the entire world. Her eyes came back to his.

"To sleep in a house, that you built for me, for US. Desperado, I can't imagine sleeping any better anywhere else."

Daryl looked at her, processing what she had said. "So ya wanna take it?"

Amber nodded, wiping her tears away. "If you want."

"Quarter of a million dollars." he said slowly, as if it was a different language. Amber was reminded of how Kaye said that Daryl had no concept of that much money and what it could do.

"Yeah. Quarter of a million dollars." she responded.

"And I get ta build ya a house." he said, corner of his mouth quirking up. That's what did Amber in. 'Get' to build her a house. Not 'going' to build her a house, or 'have to' build her a house. He spoke as if it was some great privilege to put his blood, sweat, and tears into a huge life consuming project. Just because it was for her.

Amber took his face in her hands and crashed her lips to his. Daryl was surprised and they ended up toppling over and off the blanket onto the floor. He had enough thought to grab for the top of her brace and pull her over on top of him to protect her knee. That's how they ended up covered in a layer of dust older than they were. Neither cared much, they were busy.


	58. Chapter 58

**A little bit of connector, and domesticity. I had to get the gloves in there. And then setting up some clubhouse hilarity in the next chapter. This contains Meth (Merle/Beth)! I'm sorry if some don't like the pairing but I love them. After this night at the clubhouse we're going to have a bit of a time skip. I'm trying to get Amber's girl parts better as fast as I can, I promise!**

"Hey, you ever eat Thai or Indian food?"

The look Daryl gave her from his side of the truck gave Amber her answer. They were headed to the grocery store, a different one than they got the groceries from the day they shopped for the big house. Amber had told him of her love for cooking extended beyond just the usual southern comfort food that her grandparents preferred.

"Would you try it if I made it? I figured that we could do something different tonight, kind of in celebration."

"I reckon. Ain't never had nothing that you cooked that wasn't good." he agreed reluctantly.

She grinned gleefully and added some more items to her list. Daryl pulled the truck in the closest spot to the door he could find and stood to the side as she got out on her own. Every day she was doing more and more, with him learning to let her try. For the next hour he found himself dragged from one end of the specialty high end grocery to the other. This was combining Amber's two favorite activities, cooking and shopping, and she was definitely in her element. Daryl would just prop himself on the cart, watching as she selected bundles of herbs he had no idea even existed before then or haggled with the butcher over how she wanted the meat cut. Finally she declared them done, but then paused in front of the magazine racks. Daryl saw that she was eyeing some remodeling and home magazines.

"Might as well get some ideas on how ya want the inside, girl." He said casually. She happily selected no less than six different ones and plopped them into the buggy. Daryl had the feeling that was going to be how they spent their evenings for a while, poring over those magazines and making plans. He would never admit it out loud, but he looked forward to it. He was as excited as she was, just containing it a bit more. He practically itched to walk the floor plan out back behind the trailer, mark it off, do something to start the process.

They were traveling down main street when Amber pointed out a building and had him pull in. It was the local biker shop, the same one he had visited with Barry and Norm what seemed like forever ago.

"What ya want here?"

"Come on. Let's just go look." Amber already had her seatbelt off and door open. He just rolled his eyes and followed. How the hell did Daryl Dixon, who hadn't hardly had a pot to piss in for the first thirty four years of his life, end up with a woman who liked to shop, he'd never know.

"Milk's gonna go bad out in the truck." he warned, trying to convince her otherwise as he followed her into the shop.

"It's fine. We won't be here long." Amber dismissed him. The look on her face was remarkably similar to how he felt when on the trail of a big buck. He smirked, she was on the hunt and he was just along for the ride. They were going to talk this shit out (as bad as he hated to) before they picked up that money though, she wasn't going to get all happy with it. They were going to stretch it just as far and carefully as they could.

"Hey Amber!" the man behind the counter called out as soon as they entered. Daryl recognized him from the club, even though he hadn't been at the shop the last time he came. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really, maybe gloves, sunglasses."

"You or him?"

Amber jerked her head at Daryl. "Him."

"Girl, what're ya doin? I don't need nothin." Daryl asked her as she rifled through a rack.

Amber shrugged, pointedly ignoring him. "Just shopping." She held up a do rag like her fathers, except instead of skulls it had rattlesnakes. "You like it?"

"No. I ain't wearing shit like that."

Amber pouted but then nodded. "Listen, prospect." she leaned over a little. "If your going to be a Demon, and the president's daughter's old man, I want you to look the part. You look badass already, but I want to spoil you a little."

Daryl rolled his eyes. "I ain't badass. And ya ain't gonna start blowin money."

"It's not blowing money to spend a little on yourself, baby. I've not seen you buy one single thing for you since I met you. Now follow me."

She led him to some racks on the other side of the store. "Here." She gestured to the sunglasses and gloves where they hung. "Pick what you want of each. And if you don't I'll pick, and I'll find some in my favorite color. Same goes for if I catch you looking at price tags."

Daryl huffed but started looking through them. Damn woman, he was going to bust her ass when he got her home. Shit, now that reminded him of the last time he busted her ass, in the mirror room at the club. He concentrated harder on what he was doing, he didn't need that problem right now. "Ain't riding right now, no way." he grumbled.

"Not my fault." Amber chimed in from where she stood next to him. "Doctor cleared you to ride. You're just being stubborn. Besides, sunglasses and gloves are safety measures. You need to be able to see when you ride into the sun, and gloves will keep you from tearing your hands up if you have to lay the bike down."

"Ain't plannin on layin it down." he said quickly, his stomach a little sick. Fuck, when did he get so attached to an engine and a couple wheels? He really was turning into a biker.

"Nobody does, Desperado. But I hear you push the limits when you want to."

She was talking about the night she was taken, somebody must have told her how he drove the Scrambler that night. "When I got a good fuckin reason, I do." he said quietly.

Amber changed the subject. "Here try these." She slipped a pair of black leather fingerless gloves on his hands. The palms were heavy duty gold suede, meant to protect his palms in case he toppled off the bike and caught himself with his hands on the asphalt. They did fit like a dream and somehow looked right on him. "What do you think?" she asked.

Daryl shrugged. "Ya like'em?" he asked back.

"You're the one that's going to wear them silly. But yes, they look good. REALLY good." She smirked up at him.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her. "This is like that belt thing ya got, ain't it?"

Amber looked down, concentrating on undoing the straps that closed the gloves on his wrists. "I have no idea what your talking about." He could see her cheeks redden though. For the second time in one day he had turned the tables on her. Good damn deal. But then she looked up.

"Well, I could always find something for us to do, while you wear the gloves." she slipped them off his hands, making sure to run her fingers over his wrists. He nearly groaned, now HE knew some things they could do while he wore those gloves. Amber walked past him on her crutches.

"Let's find those sunglasses, Desperado. We wouldn't want the milk to spoil."

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A few minutes later they were in the truck, almost to the farm with their purchases. Besides Daryl's gloves and sunglasses, Amber had found herself a pair of flat knee high boots. Before he could remind her of her already large shoe collection (much too large in Daryl's opinion) she reminded him that they were all high heels, which she couldn't wear at the moment.

Amber's phone went off, and she started laughing a moment after checking the message. "You'll never guess what your brother's done."

"Shit!" Daryl hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand as he turned into the farm driveway. "He got fuckin locked up again, didn't he?!"

Amber gave him a look. "Hell no, why would I laugh if he got arrested? This is hilarious."

"Yeah, I know the two of y'alls idea a funny, and it ain't the same as mine."

"He's taking Beth out to the clubhouse tonight."

Daryl ran his hand over his face. "Beth? BETH? Little blonde Beth?" He shook his head. "That ain't gonna work, that girl will lose it. She don't know shit about that." He pointed at her phone. "Tell him no. Her daddy'll kill'em. If Maggie don't get'im first."

Amber shook her head. "First of all, no. I'm not Merle's keeper and neither are you, not anymore. He likes her, wants to have her around. For a prospect, that means the clubhouse. Besides, this isn't Merle, this is Beth. She got my number out of Maggie's phone. She's telling them she's working at Jake's tonight and driving over here to meet him. The poor girl has no idea what to wear, and wants to know if she can borrow something of mine."

Daryl shook his head as he parked next to the trailer steps. "No, girl..."

Amber just kept talking. "I know! I'll have both of them come over for supper before we all go..."

"We ain't..."

"and then I'll help her get ready. I can't wait to see this!" Amber went to work typing on her phone and Daryl just laid his head on the steering wheel. If there was one of him, and one of her, how the hell did he keep getting over ruled?

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Two hours later Amber was dishing up Daryl's second plate of Thai Chicken Curry when Merle sauntered in the door. "Hey, Lil' Sugar." He said, heading straight to the fridge.

"Yeah, sure, bro. Go ahead and get ya a beer." Daryl said sarcastically from around a mouthful of chicken.

Merle raised his middle finger in response, just moving to the stove next to Amber with drink in hand. "What's that?" he asked, nose wrinkling up. She dipped a piece of the naan flatbread she had picked up at the grocery store that day in the sauce and handed it to him. "Here. It's chicken curry."

Merle took the food, eyeing it suspiciously. "Is it any good, bro?" he asked Daryl.

"Nope, tastes like shit. In fact, ya should go back and eat at ya own house it's s'bad."

"Fuck you. I know better, Lil' Sugar made it. And ya stuffin ya face like ya gettin ready for winter." Merle popped the bite in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. Then he grabbed a plate off the counter and shoved into Amber's hands. She dished up the food, including a piece of the bread but when she tried to hand it to him he shook his head and motioned back to the pan. Amber doubled the amount of food on the plate, chuckling, he must have approved. Merle took a seat across from Daryl at the bar with his plate and beer.

"That's baby girl's seat." Daryl almost growled, not looking up from his plate.

Amber stifled a laugh. "It's okay, baby. I thought Beth and I would sit on the couch. We'll have to hurry so I can help her get ready."

Merle grinned at Daryl. "Yeah, BABY. It's okay." He looked over at Amber curiously. "What do ya mean, help angel get ready? She ain't gonna be ready when she gets over here?"

Amber pursed her lips. Apparently, Beth hadn't informed him she was planning on wearing clothes more appropriate for the clubhouse. Thankfully she was saved by a newer model Volkwagon Beetle edging it's way over the dam.

"There she is now!" Amber exclaimed. Merle was distracted from his line of questioning, practically tripping over himself to get out the door. Daryl turned around to look at her.

"Like I said, girl, this shit ain't gonna go good. He'll end up in a fight, an that means I'll end up in a fight. IF he let's her go."

Amber shook her head. "You weren't happy with how I looked the first time we went to the club." She moved over to stand between his knees, Daryl pulling her to sit on his lap and moving her crutches to lay over to the side. "And now you're fine with it." She reached for his cigarettes, lighting one. He spoke before he took it between his lips.

"Yeah, but Merle ain't me."

Amber didn't have a chance to respond. Merle came in the door, Beth right behind. Amber grinned at them when she saw that they were holding hands.

"Hey, Beth." she said, reaching for her crutches. Daryl sighed in disappointment when she got up, but she had to get the girl fed before she helped her get ready.

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"No, angel. Just...no. And that's final!"

Merle stood in the middle of the living room, arms crossed over his chest as he shook his head firmly. His newly 'angeled up' angel stood in front of him, looking to Amber for help. Daryl just sat at the counter, smoking with a smirk as he took in the scene. Amber had the urge to knock the cigarette right out of his mouth.

"Merle, you know this is nothing compared to what the rest of us wear to the club." she insisted. In all truth, she had held back when choosing Beth's clothes and makeup. The girl had on a pair of ripped jeans and a halter top. She didn't have near as much boobs as Amber did so she didn't spill out of it. Nor were the jeans as tight. But it was still a huge step from what the girl usually wore. Her hair was put up, with a pair of 'shoulder duster' earrings accentuating her neck. Her eyes were made up much heavier than normal, though not as much as Amber wore.

She was in the same outfit she wore the first night she and Daryl went to the clubhouse, the pink backless bustier and black jeans. The only difference was that she was wearing her new flat boots instead of the thigh high heeled ones.

"I don't give a fu...ah...da...I just don't care what ever body else wears, sugar. She ain't wearin that." Merle stumbled out, pointing at Beth. Daryl's eyebrows shot up and he snorted, obviously not used to his brother censoring his language for anybody. Amber shot him a glare.

"Yes, I AM!"Beth said firmly, surprising all three of them. "Merle, do you not think I'm pretty in this?" she asked, sounding hurt.

He ran his hand over his face, a gesture Amber had seen Daryl do a hundred times. "Yes, angel. I think yer the prettiest thing I've ever seen, like always. That's the problem. Ya ain't used to the type of men like down there."

Amber gave Merle a look. "So what are you saying about my daddy and uncles?"

Merle's eyes widened as he realized his misstep. Daryl just looked on in amusement, forgetting he had felt the same way not too long ago.

"Not a damn thing, sugar." the older brother said, holding up his hand. "I'm one of'em too, soon as I take m'ink, in case ya forget. But I'm sayin maybe angel don't know how ta handle herself like you do."

"WHAT?" Beth cried incredulously. "I may not look it, Merle Maynard Dixon. But I am a grown woman. Old enough to drink, if I wanted. And if you want me to go with you, then I'm not going dressed like a kid. So it's up to you. I can ride on the back of your bike, or I can ride in the truck with them."

Merle's mouth fell open and he glanced between Amber and Beth, beaten despite having a foot and at least a hundred pounds on each woman. He looked back at Daryl but the younger brother just chuckled. Merle took a step towards the bar, putting his finger in Daryl's face.

"Go 'head and laugh, ya fidgety little fuck." he growled out. "But when I gotta beat some Demon's ass fer lookin at angel wrong, ya best have my six. Just like I did you in that meetin room."

Merle moved towards the door, motioning to Beth. "Come on, angel. Bike's a waitin, since ya so fired up to go." He held the door open for her, Beth walking proudly past him with a toss of her hair. Amber bit her lip to keep from giggling, it seemed like the elder Dixon had met his match too.

They pulled into the clubhouse parking lot almost half an hour later. Merle had driven considerably slower than usual since it was Beth's first time riding bitch, and Amber had asked Daryl to keep the truck by them so she could help keep an eye on her. To the younger girl's credit, she did well, only seeming a bit nervous on the deepest curves. It was easier on the Bonneville anyway, with the deep double seat.

Amber sighed, laying her head on Daryl's shoulder. She missed being behind him on the Scrambler. The single seat allowed her to sit right up behind him, wrapped around, feeling every muscle move in his back during the turns. Daryl must have read her thoughts because he slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side for a second after he parked, kissing the top of her head.

"Won't be long, girl. You'll be back behind me."

He jumped out of the truck, grabbing her crutches and meeting her on the other side. Merle had parked next to Amber's door. As soon as she slid out and onto her crutches she checked on Beth. The girl was nervously standing under Merle's arm, looking at the front door of the clubhouse, where rock music poured out, considerably harder than what the Beth was used to singing at Jake's. Amber smiled and nodded to her.

"You look good Beth. Come on."

Merle gave Amber a thankful look as she turned to lead the way with Daryl's hand warm on her bare back. Tyreese was working the door that night, greeting them warmly as usual.

"Hi, Little Bit! You sure are getting around better these days. Don't have to let the prospect carry you anymore now. Hey boy!" Daryl smirked and nodded when he clapped him on the shoulder, used to the good natured ribbing at the club now. Tyreese's eyebrows shot up when he saw Beth, and he looked back at Amber a second before continuing. "Is this the little girl I'm used to seeing sing at the bar? With ugly old Merle?"

Merle flipped him off, though good-naturedly. Beth's eyes widened but then she smiled when Tyreese chuckled. "Her name's Beth." Merle muttered as he passed through the door. The club was busy as usual with it being Friday night. The dance floor was full and there were few seats at the bar. Amber spotted four down at the end and pointed them out to Daryl. It was best if he led them through the crowd, with her on crutches.

They ended up sitting with the women in the middle, the Dixon's to the outside. After a moment Carol came over with the men's usual bottles of beer and Amber's glass of whiskey.

"What can I get for you, hon?" she asked Beth.

"Ummm..." she hesitated.

"It's alright." Amber said low, leaning over to the girl."You can just order a coke."

She shook her head. "I'll have what Amber's having."

Both brother's heads snapped around. "Angel..." Merle stammered while Daryl just shook his head. Carol looked at Amber. She just shrugged and nodded back at her.

"She's legal, Carol. Up to her."

She nodded and went off to fix the drink.

"Angel, ya sure ya..." Merle looked wide eyed at his date.

"Yes, Merle. I'm a big girl. I've tasted beer and it's awful. The other can't be that bad, if Amber drinks it."

Daryl snorted into his beer, nearly choking. Both men knew Amber could hold her alcohol better (along with occasional marijuana) than they could, despite her small size. As a Demon's daughter it was in her genes.

Carol brought the drink and Merle spoke up.

"Round of shots for me and my bro, sugar."

She nodded and grabbed the bottle.

"We're both drivin, dumbass." Daryl hissed.

"Said A round, bro. One. Ya can't hold ya liquor better than yer bitch?"

Amber grinned, Merle was ordering shots because Beth was drinking stronger than him. She really hoped this didn't end up a contest, because she'd beat all of them and couldn't drive everyone home with her leg like it was.

She caught sight of Beth's face then. She was looking at Merle oddly, almost like she was mad at him. Then it hit her, Merle had called her a bitch and Beth had never been around the club, or any motorcycle club before.

"Beth, let's go to the bathroom." Amber spoke up quickly. The girl followed her down the dark back hallway, visibly wincing at the sound of a headboard hitting the wall repeatedly, coming from one of the side rooms. Amber just chuckled, until she distinctly heard her own mother yell her father's name. Damn, they were too old for that shit. She felt a little sick herself now.

Amber waited until they were in the small bathroom to speak.

"Beth, you know Merle didn't mean anything when he called me a bitch, right?"

The girl shook her head, frowning. "That was...just ugly." she said firmly.

Amber fought the urge to laugh, if Beth thought that was ugly, she was going to see some hideous before they left. "Honey, it's different in a motorcycle club. Bitch is like saying honey, or baby, or everyone calling me baby girl."

The younger woman pondered that for a minute. "So Daryl calls you...bitch?" She said the word like it tasted bad in her mouth. This was like leading a lamb through a pack of wolves.

"Yes, sometimes. He prefers baby girl, but he does use bitch. I'm his bitch. Riding behind them is 'riding bitch'. It's a 'bitch seat'. You get me?"

She nodded slowly. "So your Daryl's ...bitch?"

"Yep. Proudly." Amber smiled. "The one I don't like is when men call women their 'old lady'."

Beth wrinkled her nose up. "Ew, me neither. Then I'm Merle's bitch?"

"Yes, honey. But if you don't like it, I'm sure he wouldn't use it. He calls you angel anyway."

Beth opened the door, holding it open for Amber as they walked back to the bar. She seemed to be in better spirits after their little talk, immediately taking a drink of her Tennessee Honey as soon as she sat down. She got it almost all the way down until she coughed a little, her face flushing.

"So, why don't you show your bitch around the clubhouse, Merle?" Beth said, taking his hand and standing up. He almost fell off his stool, finally standing up grinning like an alligator.

"Sure thing, angel."

Beth grabbed her drink and took it with her as Merle led her through the crowd proudly, several other Demon's noticing her too. Amber felt Daryl turn in his seat like usual, putting his knees on either side of her hips and propping his head on her shoulder.

"Ya explained the bitch thing, didn't ya?" he murmured in her ear as he flicked his ash into the ashtray.

"Yeah."

"This shit still is gonna turn out bad."

Amber turned to plant a kiss on his scruff. "Shut up, prospect. We bitches have got this."


	59. Chapter 59

Amber and Daryl spent the next hour sitting at the bar drinking and watching the crowd. Beth and Merle made the circuit around the main room, Merle often laughing uproariously at something another prospect or member said while Beth remained tucked under his arm. She returned her empty glass to the bar and motioned Carol for another. Amber just raised her eyebrow, willing to let her learn from her own mistakes. Beth had made it clear she didn't want to be babied.

"She ain't gonna be able ta ride the bike back." Daryl remarked in Amber's ear, as he killed his second and final beer.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Can't send her home to Herschel like that either. She'll have to spend the night at our place."

Daryl put his head down on Amber's shoulder, sighing in frustration. "I wasn't plannin on bein a fuckin babysitter t'night."

She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his ear. "They're fine right now. We could always find an empty side room..."

He shook his head against her. "Done told ya, we ain't gonna be doin that shit all the time. I can wait."

"Didn't say anybody had to get off, Desperado. You telling me you'll dry hump on the kitchen counter but you're too good to just make out with your bitch at the club?"

Daryl's skin was suddenly hot against her shoulder and Amber grinned. It was a moment before he answered her.

"Swear ta god, I'm gonna bust ya ass, girl, if ya don't stop sayin shit when we got an audience." he said into her ear.

"I seem to remember the last time you..."

"Shut the fuck up!" he hissed, even though the side of his mouth was turned up.

Amber just shook her head and grabbed her crutches as she slid off her stool. "Come on."

Daryl followed behind her closely. He caught Merle's eye and inclined his head towards the back to let him know where they were headed. He just nodded back before turning his head back to the conversation he was involved in. Amber led them to the farthest room from where she had heard her parents. This was one of the smaller ones, just a double bed and a small night table. As soon as the door shut behind them she felt Daryl's arm go across her stomach as the other came around to take her crutches and set them to the side. Then Daryl turned her in his arms and bent his knees for a second so he could hook his arm under her ass and then stood back up, Amber's feet now dangling off the floor and her head nearly on level with his. She laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well, hello there, prospect."

Daryl rolled his eyes as he walked her over to the bed. "When ya gonna stop callin me that?"

"When you take your ink."

He sat her down on the bed and Amber pushed back so he could lay down next to her.

"What ya gonna call me then?"

"Demon, of course."

He smirked, "I think I like that better, girl."

"I bet you do. Now, " she tugged at his vest and shirt. "take these off."

Daryl shook his head. "Thought we was just gonna make out?"

"Definition of make out includes everything above the belt."

"Yeah, I know how that whole belt thing works with you, baby girl." He reached behind him with one hand, jerking off his vest and black tee in one swift move. He settled back down on his side facing her, propped on one elbow.

"I did somethin for you, now it's yer turn."

Amber reached back behind her to undo the row of hooks at the back of her bustier but Daryl put his hand on her arm stopping her.

"Naw girl, not that. Can...can ya take ya hair down?" he looked at her apprehensively, as if she would make fun of his request. Amber just gave him a small smile and sat up. She slipped the pins and bands out of it, letting it tumble down her back. When she lay back down, Daryl came off his elbow and stretched his bottom arm out so she could lay her head on it. Amber had the thought that this was the same man that flinched at her touch six weeks before.

Daryl pulled her bad leg up and put his top one between hers. This was becoming automatic, just another one of the hundred ways he was concerned with her well being. He didn't use the word 'love' often, but he acted on it with every breath.

He slid his hand into her hair and lowered his head, just barely brushing his lips over hers. Amber made a frustrated sound when he pulled away and Daryl chuckled. He lowered his head again and kissed her a bit harder this time. Her hands played over his chest, appreciating the extra bit of broadness it had acquired in the past couple of weeks. He pulled her a little closer and the muscles rolled and bunched under her fingertips, making her groan quietly. When she opened her mouth Daryl's tongue traced her lower lip and then inched slowly forward, caressing every inch of her mouth. With no finale of sex ahead, at least for a while, there was no hurry just kissing and touching for their own sakes.

Amber joined in quickly, deepening the kiss herself, though keeping with the languid rhythm they were both enjoying. After a few minutes Daryl's hand inched down from her neck and began to draw slow circles and curlicues at random across the skin on her back. His calloused fingertips made her shiver and gooseflesh popped up. Daryl smirked against her, pleased with the results of his actions. His hand dropped lower and she felt the first of the four hooks of the bustier release. He waited between each, drawing it out, until she was free from it. He pulled it from between their bodies but instead of bringing his hand around to her breasts he just circled his arms around her tighter, bringing Amber's body flush against his. He wanted to feel her skin against his.

Amber sighed and brought the hand that wasn't trapped between them up to the back of his neck, scratching his skin lightly through his now longer hair. This...this was good. This was better than good actually. This was great, even without the sex.

Daryl's mouth left hers and she would have protested the loss but his lips began to work on the skin of her jaw, satisfying her again. His scruff was rubbing deliciously against her and she found herself hoping she would have 'beard burn' on her face and neck the next morning as a reminder. His mouth dropped lower and she tilted her head, allowing him to taste her, his tongue now slipping out against her skin. She had no idea whether the talents of his lips and tongue were inborn or learned, but she was thankful nonetheless. As far as she was concerned, Daryl Dixon's mouth was one of the great wonders of the world, no matter where on her body it worked.

She just lay and let him have his way with her skin, bringing her hand down from his neck to move over the now totally healed tattoo on the outside of his upper arm. She traced the woman's ankle, her ankle, and the rattlesnake that struck out from it. His devotion to protecting her was spelled out with permanent ink in living flesh. Amber found herself imagining his Demon ink again. Something she dreaded and fought against only a month before was now something that couldn't come soon enough.

The moment was suddenly interrupted by the door rocketing open and Merle barging in. "FUCK HAVE Y'ALL SEEN BETH? I'VE LOST HER!"

Daryl's body shot over Amber's shielding her from his brother's sight. "Goddammit MERLE! Get the fuck out!" he yelled.

Merle swiftly turned around but didn't leave. Amber quickly got her top back on as he ranted. "Sorry, sugar. BUT I CAN'T FUCKIN FIND BETH!"

Amber knew he had to be in near panic, he almost never used the younger woman's name. "I'm sure she's fine. How did you two get separated?" She looked down to make sure the 'ladies' were where they were supposed to be, gave the top a couple tugs to seat them securely and looked back up. "I'm dressed, you can turn back around." Merle turned back just as Daryl finished tucking his own shirt in and slipped his vest back on.

"Merle, ya damn idiot!" he said angrily as he helped Amber up off the bed and handed her crutches over. "Why'd ya leave'r alone?!"

The elder Dixon ran his hand over his short hair. "Just went ta take a damn piss! She was settin at the bar when I left. Came back a minute later and she was GONE! Carol didn't see where she went and nobody else has neither!"

Amber held up her hand. "Whoa, you left her at the bar? How many refills has she gotten on that glass?"

Merle shrugged. "I dunno? A couple I guess?"

Daryl groaned. "Dammit! That's straight Jack! And she don't drink!"

"She's hammered." Amber said plainly. "Merle, did you not realize she was drunk?"

"I was talkin to sarge about a run they might want us in on next month. Angel was right there next to me the whole time, come ta think of it she WAS laughin a lot." He shook his head and slapped his palm against his forehead, realizing his mistake.

"Have you checked all the side rooms?" Amber asked.

"Hell yeah. Ya daddy bought shot me when I walked in on him and your mama. They're some dirty fu..."

"SHUT UP!" Amber yelled, clapping her hands over her ears. She took them down when she was confident he understood her point. "How did you get in here and the other rooms anyway?"

"Picked the locks." he said quickly, as if it was a normal skill to have. "YA GOT TA HELP ME FIND'ER!"

"Quit losin ya shit, dumbass!" Daryl barked. "You go look outside, out front. Me and her'll look out back at the firin range."

Merle turned back around and headed out without another word. Amber led the way out to the firing range, Daryl at her elbow, muttering about his stupid brother. They didn't make it ten steps out onto the gravel before they heard her. A slurred rendition of Gretchen Wilson's "All Jacked Up" was coming from the opposite end of the range.

"She's at the end of lane one." Amber sighed in relief. She nearly laughed as she made her way up to Beth on her crutches. She was draped over one of the firing targets as if she was singing a duet with it, beaming when she saw Amber.

"Heeeeeeeeey Aaaaaaammmmmbeeeeer!" she yelled out gleefully waving. "I'm all jacked up!"

"Yes, honey, you are." Amber sighed, shaking her head.

"Stupid damn Merle." Daryl griped behind her.

"Come on, Beth. It's time to go."

She pouted. "But I waaaaaant Meeeeerle! I'm his biiiiiiitch!" she grinned proudly on the last word.

"Merle's with the bike, waiting on you." Amber said, hoping it would get her moving.

"Weeeelll, let's go then!" the younger woman slurred. She made it three steps before she stumbled and nearly did a face plant on the gravel.

"Fuck!" Daryl spat, before bending over and hooking Beth's arm around his neck to help her. He was obviously uncomfortable touching another woman besides his.

"Let's go around the side of the building." Amber suggested, not willing to drag her through the club.

"Lead the way. Be careful, I cain't catch ya since I got her." Daryl cautioned. Beth just launched into the next verse of her interrupted song. They were almost to the front parking lot when Merle materialized out of the dark ahead of them.

"Angel! Ya scared the shit outta me!" The relief in his voice was palpable. She pulled her arm out from around Daryl's neck and flung herself on his brother.

"Meeerle! I miiiiiissssseed yoooooouuuuu! You went to potty and I couldn't find yoooooouuuuu!"

"I'm right here, Angel. Now let's get ya home, alright?" he scooped her up and Beth laughed loudly.

"OOOOOOOOHHHH, you biiiiiiig strong man! I might let you feel me up now since you did that!"

"HUSH BETH!" Merle looked mortified while Daryl snorted.

"She can't go home like this!" Amber said as they walked to the truck and bike. "I'll send Herschel a message that we met her at Jake's and that she's going to spend the night to help me do some canning tomorrow. It's not a total lie, I was going to put up some jelly."

Merle put Beth down next to the passenger side of the truck and she frowned. "But I wanna ride the biiiiiiiike, Meeeeeerrllllleee!" she whined loudly, drawing some laughs from other club members who were getting on their own rides close by.

"Ya cain't, angel. Ya too drunk!" he said low.

"But Meeeerle, I'm your biiiiiitch. And that's a biiiiitch seat. That myyyyy seat!" she said as she pointed.

He rolled his eyes, running his hand over his face. "Yeah, that's your seat, angel. And yer my bitch. But ya'll fall off if ya ride like this. So PLEASE get in the truck, a'ight? I ain't goin nowhere, I'll ride right alongside, I promise."

They finally got her in the truck, sitting against the passenger door. Amber made sure to reach over and lock it after Daryl helped her in through his door to sit in the middle. Beth started singing again as they pulled out and Daryl grumbled.

"Just let her sing." Amber whispered to him. "It'll keep her busy."

Beth stopped then, as if it were her cue. "Isn't Merle just great?" she asked dreamily, pressing her nose against the window to watch him ride the Bonneville.

"Yeah, fuckin gorgeous." Daryl said sarcastically. Amber slapped his chest.

"He's soooooo haaaaandsome. And soooooo sweet!"

Amber turned to raise an eyebrow in Daryl's direction at his brother being called sweet. Daryl just shook his head and kept his eyes on the road.

"Hey, Amber!" Beth rocked around and nearly landed in her lap. "You love Daryl, right?"

She righted the girl as best she could before answering. "Yes, Beth, I love Daryl." She answered her as if speaking to a toddler.

Beth nodded. "I think I might love Merle. Yep, I think I do."

"That's nice, honey." Amber didn't know quite what to do with that. Beth rocked back around but Amber was prepared this time and kept her upright.

"Daryl, do you loooooove Amber?" she asked loudly. Amber felt him go tense against her.

"DARYL! I SAID, DO YOU LOVE AMBER?" Beth shouted.

"Yeah. Now shut it." he grumped from his side of the truck.

"That's sooooo sweeeeet! But I don't know if Meeeerle loves meeee."

"You'll have to ask him that, honey." Amber replied, trying to gloss over the subject.

"Amber, caaaaan I aaaaassssskk you somethin?" Beth asked, blowing a cloud of Jack's finest into her face. She smelled like a liquor store.

"Yes, Beth." Amber said hesitantly.

"Wheeeeen are youuuuuu and Daryyyyyl gettiiiiinn married?"

The truck lurched over and bounced when it hit the gravel on the side of the road.

"God DAMMMIT!" Daryl cursed, pulling it back over into the lane. Beth squealed and clung to Amber, who was thankful for the diversion. Daryl was probably about ready to have a stroke.

Thankfully they were right at the driveway to the farm. Amber hurriedly pulled out her phone and texted Herschel, trying to interject as much truth into the lie as possible. They parked in front of the trailer and Merle pulled Beth out of the passenger door as she squealed in delight. Daryl helped Amber out and they led the way and unlocked the door.

Merle sat Beth down on one of the kitchen stools as Daryl pulled out the couch and Amber went to get some pillows and blankets.

"Here, angel, lets get ya boots off so ya can get ta bed." He said, kneeling down to pull them off.

She leaned over, flopping her head and arms over his back. "Oh Merle. Are you gonna sleeeeep with meeeeee?"

He sighed."No, angel, I'm goin ta my..."

Daryl stood up from the couch, which was now a bed, quickly and pointed his finger at his brother to interrupt. "YOU ain't goin no damn where! This is your problem, now your gonna fix it! I'm done fixin shit for ya!"

Amber flicked the covers onto the sofa bed and threw the pillows on with a smirk. Merle just rolled his eyes and pulled Beth off the counter and helped her to lay down. When he lay next to her she giggled.

"Meeeerle, we're gonna sleep together! Woohoo!"

Amber gave Merle a look. "You behave, you hear me?" she asked, her meaning clear.

"Yes, lil' sugar. Damn, she's lit, I ain't gonna do nothin. Give me some credit." he said, as if a little hurt.

"I trust you, but I just wanted to make myself clear. Goodnight."

"Well, I don't trust'im." Daryl declared. "Listen, asshole, we're leavin our bedroom door open, and we'll be listenin."

"Go ta bed, Darylena." Merle huffed, trying to calm Beth with an arm over hers that were waving aimlessly. "I ain't doin shit but gettin her ta shut up and go ta sleep."

"Make sure ya don't. Or I'll call'er daddy over here."

Amber snorted and cut off the light, making her way to the bedroom. She and Daryl got ready for bed, her choosing shorts and a tee and him sleeping in boxers and a wife beater, a bit more than usual since they had guests only a few feet away. He ended up curled around her, his breath fanning pleasantly over her ear. They could hear Beth singing in the living room.

Daryl kissed Amber's ear, murmuring. "Night. Love ya, girl."

"Love you too." she replied quietly.

After a while Beth grew quiet and they thought she was asleep. But then they heard her again.

"Merle?"

"Yeah, angel?" he said sleepily.

"I love you."

There was a moment of silence and then they heard him say something too quiet for them to make out in the bedroom.

"Even though we haven't had sex yet?" Beth asked timidly.

"Yes, angel. Even though we ain't fu...uh had sex yet. Now go ta sleep."

Amber turned her head to look at Daryl over her shoulder. He looked back wide eyed.

"Hell just froze over, didn't it?" she asked.

"Fuck yeah. Now sleep, I cain't take much more a this shit t'night."


	60. Chapter 60

**Thank you all for the reviews! Just so y'all know, I kinda got a crappy personal life right now and this story and your reviews (along with my Mama Kaye) are what is helping me hold it together right now. **

They waited until two weeks after deciding to take the money to go to Atlanta to pick it up. That put them at the day before the thirty day deadline. Amber had let Kaye know the week before and she had been elated, especially when she found out about the house.

"You know, Desperado, you can relax." Amber said as Daryl pulled into the parking spot in front of the bank. "We're picking up our own money. Not robbing the bank."

Daryl shrugged as he got out and made his way over to the passenger door. He had smoked the whole hour it took them to get there. Merle had driven the Bonneville alongside, after his brother had let him know they were coming to pick it up. They both had worn their weapons, though hidden at the small of their backs under their vests. Amber got the distinct impression that this was the redneck version of an armoured truck with guards. She wasn't fazed by large transactions of cash, having grown up with her father as sergeant at arms, and then vice president until his current post. Her home had often held shipments of guns, dope, and suitcases of money until it was sent elsewhere or divided among members of the club as payment for a job. She grabbed the two zippered bags that Norm had given Daryl from the war room as she got out.

"You'll have to lock your guns in the truck, guys. The bank will have metal detectors at the doors." she said quietly.

The brothers gave each other a look and then looked around the parking lot before quickly taking off their weapons and locking them in the glove compartment.

"How are ya so damn normal about this?" Daryl said as he shut the door.

"Used to it I guess. Now, are you ready to become a quarter of a million dollars richer?" she said wryly, making her way across the asphalt.

Daryl shook his head. "Not really. But don't reckon I ever will be."

Merle snorted. "Of course you wouldn't, boy. Leave it up to you to be scared shitless of a fuck ton of cash."

Ten minutes later they were standing in the safety deposit vault of the First National Bank of Atlanta as the box was removed from the wall and opened. The bespectacled male teller laid it on the table and she heard Daryl take in a sharp breath to her right.

"Ms. Phillips, Mr. Dixon, it is evident in the documents that accompany this cash that it is to be held jointly between the two of you. Would you like to move it to an account with us or..."

"We'll be taking it with us, today, as is."

The teller's eyes widened. "That is highly irregular Ms. Phillips. If need be I can convert the money electronically and transfer it to a bank account in your hometown."

Amber shook her head and smiled. "No thank you. We will take it like it is." She laid the zippered bags down on the table and he adjusted his glasses.

"Ma'am, most of the time, cash shipments this large are protected by an armed guard."

"Exactly. And this one will have two, as soon as we get out to our vehicles."

He looked at the brothers that loomed on either side of her and they just crossed their arms over their chests. They didn't have their full Demon colors on their vests yet, but he had seen the rocker across the upper back with the club name when they came in.

"I...um...see. I'll have this ready for you momentarily, Ms. Phillips, Mr. Dixon. It's in hundreds currently. Would you like it broken down any further?"

"No, hundreds are fine. If it were in smaller bills we would need more bags, thank you."

They watched as the money was packed up and each man carried one of the small bags as they walked out to the truck and bike. Daryl relaxed visibly as soon as they were out and he had the money stowed under the seat of the truck. He handed Amber his cigarettes and lighter. She lit it with an eyebrow raised.

"How many does this make since we left the house?"

"Not nearly enough." he answered as he took it from her and stowed the pack and lighter back in his vest. Merle lit his own and they just leaned against the truck bed and smoked as Amber sat on the seat turned so her legs dangled out.

"Lil' Sugar, you was cool as ice in there." Merle noted.

"She's fuckin nuts is what she is." Daryl said with a smirk.

Amber laughed and nudged him with her shoe. He just shook his head.

"When I was little, like elementary school," she explained, "Tyreese was treasurer and Daddy was sergeant at arms. Ty and Carol would come over after jobs and sometimes the whole kitchen table would be piled up with money, once it was two million after a huge shipment of guns went to Florida. Daddy would let me help him divide it up, so I could practice my math for school."

"You sure picked ya a good one bro." Merle laughed. "She drinks better than you, smokes mary jane like it wasn't nothin, handles dirty money, and can gut a man soon as look at'im."

Daryl just shook his head and gave Amber a small smile. "C'mon, baby girl, let's get this shit home."

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Amber and Daryl sat at their usual seats facing each other over the bar between the kitchen and living room. The money was stacked between them. He had yet another cigarette in his mouth and a beer in his right hand as she put the bills into stacks of ten thousand each.

"Cain't we just do this on paper?" he asked before flicking his ash into the ashtray and taking a pull of the beer.

Amber shook her head as she counted. "Easier if you can look at it." She counted the final stack and looked over the piles of paper in front of her. Twenty five stacks of a hundred one hundred dollar bills.

She grinned at Daryl and he just gave her a nervous smirk back.

"So, how much did you figure up we needed to build the house?" she asked.

Daryl reached over to his vest where it sat on the kitchen counter, pulling a couple folded sheets of paper. He rifled through them.

"Lumber's gone up. I talked to ya Paw about buyin the property, but he said he was gonna will it to ya anyway. Only got ta call in somebody to do electrical, and air conditioning, since ya decided ya wanted a wood heater and Merle knows plumbing." he glanced up "Lookin at a hundred thousand."

"How long do you think it will take?" she asked, honestly curious.

He shrugged. "Depends on the weather. If it holds, little as four months. If tha rains hit hard, lookin at the end of the year."

Amber smiled warmly. "So by Christmas? We can spend Christmas in our house?"

Daryl looked at her for a minute. Christmas had been just another day at the Dixon household, another day to lay low and avoid daddy as much as possible. The thought of what Christmas would be like with Amber gave him an odd feeling in his chest, despite it being late summer.

"Yeah, girl, in by Christmas."

She bounced in her seat with excitement and he couldn't help but smirk. Amber then pulled eleven of the stacks into a tight group and pushed them next to Daryl's right hand.

"There's a hundred and ten, just in case. Now we have a hundred and forty left. I think we need to give Merle ten, for helping with construction."

Daryl nodded. "Ain't givin it to'im at once, though. Just too damn temptin for im." he said nervously. "I know he's clean, but...damn, I'm gonna pay'im by the week, that with what he's makin half days in tha shop is plenty."

Amber put another ten thousand stack in with the house money. She looked at the remaining one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

"So, what else do you want to do with this?"

He shook his head. "Bank it, I reckon. Live off of it."

Amber saw that Daryl was starting to get a bit of a 'deer in the head lights' look.

"You don't have anything else you want? A new truck maybe?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "My trucks s'fine."

"Daryl, I agree that we need to bank some of this money, but listen. We have almost no bills, the house will be paid for with cash. Even if you didn't work and made no runs with the club, it would take us a decade to use this money. Maybe longer. And you've made it clear you plan on doing both.

"I don't need nothin." he said quietly.

"How about this, we each get twenty five thousand to spend like we want. Just free money, go buy whatever. Then the rest is savings. That sound good?"

She took his silence as a begrudging agreement and put two ten thousand piles in front of Daryl's left hand plus half of another. She did the same on her side of the table. The remaining eighty thousand sat in the middle between them.

"There. And that goes in the bank. Look good to you Desperado?"

Daryl looked over the table carefully and nodded slowly. Amber decided it was time to put the money up for a while. If Daryl smoked anymore cigarettes, he was going to turn into one.

TWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAUTWDAU

Daryl measured and marked off the foundation with stakes the next morning, first thing after breakfast. Amber sat on the back steps with her coffee, his sitting next to her hip, watching as he drove the stakes in the ground. He had eaten breakfast in just his jeans as usual and had headed out the door that way, walking shirtless and barefoot in the grass and wildflowers of the backyard. She watched him carefully measure off the perimeter of the house, double checking the tape before driving each stake in, cigarette clenched in his teeth. The morning sun shone on his back as he worked and Amber just admired how he moved and looked. She had always found his farmers tan sexy, but the thought of him perched on the roof of the almost completed house, shirtless, tan and sweaty was alluring to say the least. When it was just her, he could be comfortable, not ashamed of his marks. This was the same man who even had sex with his shirt on up until two months before.

She looked down at her knee. Chris had approved her going without the brace for a couple hours every morning. The scar was better, but it was never going to not be obvious. She would probably never be able to wear shorts in public again. Somehow, in the end, she and Daryl had ended up a matched set, inside and out.

Amber was broken from her thoughts by an extra stake hitting the ground at the foot of the steps. Daryl was standing in the middle of the stakes he had used as markers, hip pushed out with a hand on it. Her breath hitched, the man was damn sex on a stick and didn't even have a clue. He gestured to the markers and then cocked his head to the side.

_This a'ight?_

"Looks great, Desperado. When can we move in?" she yelled with a grin.

"Pfft." he scoffed, running a hand through his already sleep rumpled hair. "I told ya Christmas."

"I'm holding you to that. You're gonna cut me a huge ass tree, and we're going to put it in the corner, to the right of the fireplace."

He made his way over to the steps, sitting on the one below her, picking up his coffee to take a drink. He looked at the house site and then tentatively up at her. Amber had the image of a little boy, looking to his mother for approval of a project. She put her hand on his back, letting her fingertips trace over the worst scars like he liked. He leaned back a bit into her hand as she spoke.

"It's going to be beautiful."

He looked up at her with an expression akin to adoration. "Ya reckon?"

"I know. Now don't you have to go see about the guys who are digging and pouring the foundation?"

He nodded. Truth was, she needed to get him out of the house for a bit so Merle could come up there, and she had to make some phone calls. She had twenty five thousand dollars burning a hole in her pocket.


	61. Chapter 61

**I have known that this chapter would be like this for a couple weeks. I woke up at 5am one morning, heard the song on my daughter's radio from her room and saw the whole thing vividly. I hope I did it justice. Let me know.**

_There's not enough rain in Oklahoma_

_To wash the sins out of that house_

_There's not enough wind in Oklahoma_

_To rip the nails out of the past_

_Shatter every window, 'till it's all blown away_

_Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away_

_'Til there's nothing left standing, nothing left of yesterday_

_Every tear soaked memory, blown away_

_Blown Away_

_-Blown Away by Carrie Underwood_

The closer they got to Senoia, the quieter Daryl got. Amber had gotten him out of the house early that morning, two weeks after they had picked up the money. Her only excuse was they had some business they needed to handle. Daryl of course had questioned her relentlessly, but she had held him off, saying he would see shortly.

There wasn't any work he could do on the new house that day anyway. The foundation had been dug and poured and he was waiting on the first shipment of lumber. The outbuilding to the side of the trailer now was full of power and hand tools, most of which she had no clue the names of. Finally, Amber had found something to get Daryl's blood pumping for the shopping side of things. His eyes glazed over a bit when they had walked into the home improvement store the previous week.

They were almost to the Senoia city limits now, an hour away from the farm. Daryl hadn't said a word since they had gotten outside of Newnan. Amber had been giving him directions from the GPS from her phone, even though she knew he could have driven where they were going from memory if she had told him. She had been afraid he would refuse to come if she told him where they were going before they were too close to turn back. She opened her mouth to tell him the next turn but he shook his head.

"Reckon I know where we're headed now." Daryl said, sounding almost angry. Amber found herself hoping she hadn't done the wrong thing. He practically vibrated with tension next to her in the truck now.

A few minutes later they pulled down a dry dusty dirt road and then he turned the truck into a nearly overgrown path, too narrow to be called a proper driveway. He pulled up in front of the small shack and just sat there, looking down at the steering wheel.

"Why?" he finally asked, voice halfway between hurt and anger. Amber swallowed, trying to identify the best course of action at that point.

This was the house, the shack, that Daryl had grown up in, from the time his mother died when their previous house burned down when he was six until he left it and his daddy behind when he was eighteen to go live with Merle. This place had been his own personal hell for twelve years.

"Come on." she said quietly, opening her truck door.

"I ain't goin in there, girl." he said firmly.

"I'm not asking you to. Now please, Daryl." she pleaded, "Get out."

Amber slid out of her door and pulled her crutches from the bed of the truck to make her way over to his side, the side the shack was on. It couldn't have been more than four small rooms. Merle had told her it had two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living area. It didn't have running water and had been condemned five years before, immediately after Jeb Dixon had died, eleven years after his youngest son left. Amber had offered Merle to come along, but he told her that he had only lived there a few months, it held nothing for him, good or bad.

Daryl got out slowly, shut his door and then leaned against it, as if getting too close to the place would bring old ghosts back alive. Amber took two folded pieces of paper out of the back pocket of her jeans and handed them to him. He took them with shaking hands, shaking his head when he saw the deed.

"Why?" he asked again, voice edging so close to heartbreak that Amber nearly panicked. "I don't..."

"The other paper, Daryl. Look at the other paper." she said quickly, unable to bear the way he was looking at her, like she had done something to purposely hurt him. He looked down and shuffled the papers. As he did, she reached behind them to pull out the full gas can she knew he kept in the truck bed to set it on the ground at his boots. She heard Daryl make a small noise in the back of his throat when he read the header of the second paper.

**Senoia City Fire Department Burn Permit**

He looked at her and then the gas can. Amber cleared her throat.

"You burned a monster for me, this was as close as I could come to doing it for you. I know...you sleep better now, beside me. But there might be times when you're on an overnight run with the club. I thought this would help."

Daryl ran his hand through his hair and from the look on his face Amber knew he was incapable of speech at the moment, possibly until they left this place behind.

"You can do it, or I can do it while you watch. It's up to you." she said, giving him an out. Daryl just stood there for a few minutes, looking slowly between the building, the papers in his hand and her, his eyes unreadable. Amber finally reached down for the gas can, taking his hesitation as her permission. But before her hand could close around the handle, his fingers circled her wrist, stopping her. Daryl shook his head, picking the gas can up himself.

He walked slowly up to the house, the place of his torture, unscrewing the cap to the can. Amber just stood at the truck, knowing he needed his room. Daryl splashed gas around the whole base of the home, pouring the rest on the porch and the front door. She expected him to pull his lighter out immediately, but he walked back to the truck, placing the empty gas can in the back to rummage in the tool box. He came up with a crowbar, moving past her as if she wasn't there.

Daryl circled the building, almost as if saying a final goodbye. But then he hesitated in front of a window in the back and Amber saw his shoulders shudder from across the yard. Suddenly, his arm reared back with the crowbar and he brought it down, shattering the window. The sound that escaped his throat could only be called a mix of anguish and hate. He didn't stop until every shard of glass was gone from the window frame and then moved around the corner to the other window to that room to do it again. She saw walls that looked to have once been pointed blue, realizing that must have been his room. Only when he had broken the windows completely out did he drop the crowbar, standing with his chest heaving for a moment.

Daryl slowly pulled his lighter from his pocket and flipped it open. His hand was shaking so hard that Amber could tell from across the yard. She began to make her way toward him, afraid he would be trembling so badly that he wouldn't move back fast enough once he touched the flame to the gas soaked boards. She needn't have worried. As soon as the flames began to lick and grow across the dry wood, Daryl stumbled back as if with the enormity of what he was doing. Before Amber could get to him he took four or five lurching steps backward and then fell onto his back on the dry cracked Georgia clay. She scrambled to sit on the ground next to him clumsily, thankful she had left her brace off that morning and could at least bend her knee a little. For a second, Amber was afraid that Daryl would be angry with her for bringing him back, for making it so that he did this.

The second he felt her presence next to him, however, he showed her otherwise. Daryl lurched to lay facedown across her lap, his arms locked so tightly around her waist that she almost had trouble breathing. The front of the thighs of her jeans grew wet under his face and she just let him have it, running her hands through his hair and over his back as the fire climbed higher, claiming the shack and all the power it had once held over a little boy.

The roof had already begun to cave in when he finally stopped sobbing against her and moved to pull his bandana out of his vest pocket, running it hurriedly over his face before he turned onto his back to prop his head in her lap, one arm remaining looped around her waist, the other hand coming up to clutch hers where it lay against his chest. His eyes, now swollen and red, stayed on the house as it burned.

Morning moved into early afternoon, and the shack was nothing but smoldering ruin, with occasional flames showing themselves when Daryl finally sat up. He leaned over to move his hands into Amber's hair and just pressed the side of his face against her cheek, his upper body against hers. After a moment his arms wound themselves around her and he sighed against her. Daryl wasn't able to speak yet, his emotions running still to high and close to the surface but she understood him anyway. She had understood this silent language of his since she had known him only a week. He was thanking her for doing this, for bringing him there.

Finally, Daryl stood and helped Amber up, carefully dusting the dirt off her jeans before leading her to the truck and helping her in. When he slid in his side he reached over and pulled her across the bench seat to sit against him, kissing the top of her head.

"You okay to drive?" she asked.

He nodded, cranking the truck.

"There's one more place we need to go before we go home. This one's going to be a happy one, I think. I'll tell you how to get there." Amber said, looking up at him.

Fifteen minutes later they pulled up in front of a large brick building, with what looked like the beginnings of new construction to one side. They got out of the truck and Amber led the way to a large bronze plaque that stood in front of the construction site.

"What is this place?" Daryl asked, now able to speak.

"It's the Senoia Boys Home. It's a group home for young boys who are in foster care due to severe abuse and neglect." Amber gestured to the plaque and Daryl stepped up to read it. She knew the second he got to the name because his fingers reached up to trace the letters.

_This playground is _

_In Loving Memory of _

_Darlene May Dixon_

_Beloved Mother of Two Good Sons_

_Who Became Two Strong Men_

_1951-1985_

Amber sighed. "I remember you told me that she didn't have a grave, the fire was so bad. That it was like she wasn't even real. Now a hundred or more people a day will read her name. The property that the house was on is going to be sold to the highest bidder, and the money given to the home's general fund. I sent the money for the playground down here ten days ago and had to rush the plaque..."

"It's perfect." he interrupted, shaking his head in disbelief. Daryl stepped over to her, taking her face in his hands. "Girl..." his voice was strangled as his eyes searched hers. "I don't deserve ya..."

Amber nodded."You're right. You, and that little boy that lived in that house we just burned, deserve a whole lot better than I'll ever be able to be. I guess you're just stuck with me."

It's amazing how some people can laugh and cry at the same time.


	62. Chapter 62

**I'm so glad the last chapter came across how I wanted it to! I'm sorry I made so many people cry! (Okay, I'm not. It was a good cry, it's good for you.) Please don't hate me for how this chapter ends. We are almost there, I promise**! **Review me baby!**

Amber's gynecologist appointment was three days after their trip to Senoia. She grinned at him the whole time in the waiting room but Daryl just rolled his eyes and twisted his fidget band. When she was called back the routine was the same, Daryl found himself sitting in the seat in the corner while Amber sat on the exam table, swinging her legs.

"Ya best calm down." he finally said, "Ya don't know that she'll give ya tha go ahead t'day."

Amber frowned at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't want to have sex with me."

Daryl shook his head, looking at the floor beneath his boots. "Ya know better than that, girl. Jus don't want ya upset. And even if she says ya can, don't mean we are right away."

Before she could answer him there was a knock at the door and the nurse practitioner came in. After the requisite greetings she took her seat at the foot of the exam table and Daryl took his place next to Amber's head. He steeled himself, expecting the same as the last time. Amber already had her eyes shut and was breathing deeply. This time, however, she only shed a single tear and winced, right after he heard those metallic clicks (that he definitely didn't want to know what they were). As soon as the nurse pushed back she gave them both a smile and left the room so Amber could dress.

She was without her brace, her knee wrapped in ace bandages that afternoon since she had to bend her knee for the exam. Daryl was helping her with her clothes.

"It wasn't near as bad this time!" Amber said excitedly. "Almost like my regular check ups."

He smirked up at her as he knelt to tie her shoes. "I saw that. Ya did good."

As soon as Daryl stood the nurse came back in, taking a seat back on her stool, Amber on the table and him beside her like a month before. She told them stitches had been completely absorbed, the lacerations completely healed.

"So, does that mean I can have sex?" Amber asked bluntly. Daryl ran his hand over his suddenly hot face, he was going to kill her. The nurse chuckled and gave him a half smile before answering.

"I think that would be okay at this point. Of course, you two would need to go slow. There probably will be some discomfort but..."

"We can wait longer." Daryl said quickly.

The nurse shook her head. "That won't make a difference. The tissues will still have to adjust, close to like when a woman loses her virginity. You'll just have to take it slow, make sure she's well aroused, and that she's well lubricated, which usually isn't a problem with a woman her age. Especially with a patient and generous partner."

Amber smirked up at Daryl, whose eyes were on the floor as he nearly chewed his thumb bloody. His ears were almost purple he was blushing so hard. "Oh, he's VERY generous, no worries about that. We'll be fine."

Daryl glared at her for a second as the nurse laughed again and said her goodbyes. As soon as the door shut behind her he grabbed Amber's crutches and thrust them at her.

"God damn, girl! I cain't take ya no damn where!" he huffed.

"Hey, come here." she said, hooking her fingers in his belt loops and pulling him between her knees. He came reluctantly, hand still at his mouth. She reached up and pulled it away. "You won't be able to drive any nails, Desperado, if you chew that thumb off."

He shook his head. "Ya best be glad I love ya, like I said last time. Ya got a damn big mouth, girl."

She chuckled. "Daryl, I just asked her if it was okay. And then paid you a compliment. You ARE a very generous lover." she kissed his chest. "Now, you feel like going home and paying me back for all the times you got to come this month?"

Daryl put his hands on Amber's waist and carefully set her on the floor, tucking her crutches under her arms while avoiding her eyes. "Shut it. We gotta go get some supper."

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They ended up eating quickly at the Waffle House before heading home. Amber knew Daryl was uncomfortable with the subject of sex at the moment, so she decided to talk about something else when they got home.

"Have you thought about when your going to take your ink?" she asked, sitting on the couch and pulling her laptop out from under where it was usually stowed.

"Soon as I can, I guess." Daryl said, pulling a beer out of the fridge and sitting beside her. "Whenever ya ready ta take yours."

"I'm ready. Have you thought about a demon?"

"Naw. Don't know enough about it, figured I'd let you pick."

Amber shook her head. "I can't do that. The demon you choose has to have special meaning for you. What it controls, what traits it has. Here, let me show you."

She spent the next hour showing him the ones she had made a shorter list of, after reviewing the hundreds of choices over the last week. Some were out because members of their chapter already wore that one, others just because they didn't fit Daryl. She told him what Norm, her father, Tyreese, and a couple other particularly close uncles wore, and why. As she talked and he smoked and looked, occasionally nodding, it began to rain, the typical late summer Georgia thunderstorm. Daryl looked out the blinds behind the couch, making a frustrated noise.

Amber knew it was because he had wanted to get a start on the house. The lumber had been delivered the day before, sat under a waterproof covering of tarps and the foundation was set.

"It's alright." she said quietly, putting a kiss on his jaw before turning back to the computer. "It'll still be there in a couple days."

Daryl sighed and took a drag off his cig as he turned back to her. After a few minutes he sat up and pointed at a picture. "That one. Can ya make it bigger, so I can see it better?"

Amber bit back a smile as she blew up the picture, with the description and traits underneath. Daryl leaned forward to read it and then looked at her with a smirk. Amber grinned back.

"Ya done looked at this one, ain't ya girl?" he asked.

Amber shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe. But the choice has to be yours."

"Can I add somethin to it?"

"Like what?"

Daryl pointed to the screen, telling her what he wanted to custom on the design. She nodded, "Perfect, Desperado."

"And that," he motioned to the demon's name "will be under it?"

"Yeah, and between the bases of my wings. Showing who I belong to."

Daryl stubbed out his cigarette. "Damn, girl, ya make it sound like I own ya."

"As far as the clubs concerned, once I wear your demon's name, you do. Just remember, as far as I'M concerned, ownership goes both ways." she raised her eyebrow playfully.

Daryl grinned and shook his head. "No problem with that, baby girl. Sides, I've done seen what ya can do with a blade. I like my nuts where they're at."

Amber laughed then and set the laptop on the floor. She shifted on the couch and pulled at Daryl until they were laying facing one another, her to the inside, almost totally surrounded by him.

"Hey." she said playfully.

"Shut up." he chuckled, just before kissing her. Amber let him set the pace, feeling his sudden tension after the joking mood. One of her hands was trapped between them on the narrow couch but she let the other travel under his tee shirt, pushing it up until he pulled back long enough to pull it off. She let her nails dig into his shoulder when his tongue entered her mouth. The muscles tightened under her hands and he growled low. Then Amber felt his hands grab her top and yank it roughly over her head. Somehow they got it untangled from her bottom arm and then he pulled one of the cups of her bra down, ducking his head to take her nipple into his mouth. Amber keened and arched her back, hooking her knee over his hip, glad she was without her brace. When he nipped her, her hips bucked forward, grinding against his.

"Oh god...Daryl..." she gasped.

His head snapped up, eyes wide. Daryl's hands froze and he looked at her face for a long minute.

"Daryl...what...what's wrong?" Amber asked,

He shook his head and slowly sat up, grabbing his shirt from the floor and pulling it on.

"WHAT is it?" Amber said a little louder, scrambling to sit up. He snagged her shirt from the back of the couch and laid it in her lap.

"I...I cain't..." he stammered, putting his forearms on his knees and hanging his head between his shoulders.

"You can't WHAT?"

"Hurt ya, that's what. I cain't hurt ya, girl. Ya been hurt enough." he murmured.

Amber sighed. "Daryl, baby, you can't think about it like..."

"No, girl. I just ain't gonna do it." he said firmly.

"So you're refusing to sleep with me?! Dammit Daryl!" Amber said, incredulous. "You're building me a house. I'M TAKING YOUR DAMN INK!"

Daryl stood up, grabbing his bow from by the door. "M'sorry girl. I ain't gonna hurt ya, I cain't do it. I...gotta go out for a while."

"Daryl, it's RAINING!" Amber said, pulling her shirt back on.

He shook his head as he stepped into the doorway, keeping his back to her as he spoke. "Call Merle, or Beth, or yer Maw if ya need somebody with ya. I...I gotta go out."

Then he was gone into the downpour, leaving her more alone than she had been in months.

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Daryl had no idea how long he walked in the rain, wandering aimlessly in the woods as his mind raced. The bow stayed on his back, far from his thoughts. FUCK! He kicked a tree, relishing the jolt as it traveled up his leg. Then he drove his fist into another, letting the pain in his knuckles cut through the sick feeling in his chest. WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE EXPECT HIM TO DO?! Be okay with hurting her again?! Just for his own pleasure?! Dammit! Amber had already given him so much, loved him even though he had let her down. And then acted like him hurting her was just a given.

Daryl threw a chunk of log from the forest floor, his wet hair hanging in his eyes as he cursed something he couldn't lay his hands on, couldn't put his fists against. Then he heard a twig break behind him and spun around, senses suddenly heightened. The rain poured down, the trees around him occasionally illuminated by flashes of lightening. Somebody was there, he could sense them, even with the water and thunder clouding his senses. And there wasn't but one person in this part of the state who could move quietly enough in the woods to sneak up on him.

"Ya might as well come out, dumb..."

He was cut off when what felt like a brick wall slammed into his back, knocking him down onto the wet ground below. Then he was pinned, hands reaching for his knife. He didn't give a fuck who it was, they had started this shit at the wrong damn time. Daryl had some steam to blow off, and a fight sounded like a good way to do it.


	63. Chapter 63

"YA STUPID FIDGETY LITTLE FUCK!"

Merle flipped Daryl over and punched him, fist connecting solidly with his cheekbone. Daryl's hands shot up, grabbing his shoulder and flipping him off him into the wet pine needles next to him.

"Goddammit, Merle. I swear ta god, I'm gonna kill ya!" he roared, jumping to his feet and aiming his boot at his head. He rolled just out of reach, avoiding the blow by less than an inch. He made it to his feet and dove to put his shoulder into Daryl's stomach. He sidestepped him. The fight was closely matched, Merle had a few more pounds, Daryl a bit quicker. They had fought with and against each other enough for each to know the others moves, there were no surprises.

Merle came up behind him and Daryl spun around.

"What tha fuck do ya want, asshole?!" Daryl spat, wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

"What do I want? What I want is ta kick yore teeth in after what ya did ta Lil' Sugar!" Merle swung and Daryl didn't avoid it, his mind busy processing his brothers words. The gut punch landed, pushing the breath out of him with an "oof". He stumbled against a tree, barely staying upright.

"What...what the hell ya talkin about? I didn't do nothin ta her..." he looked up suddenly, eyes wild, "WHY? What's wrong with'er?"

Merle put his finger up in his face. "Aw no, ya little shit! Don't act like ya care now!" He drove his fist towards Daryl's face again but he ducked. Merle's knuckles contacted solid oak instead.

"FUCK! You'll pay for that!" he roared, clutching his hand. Daryl took him down to the ground, his knee driving into his ribs with a satisfying thunk. Merle groaned but Daryl ignored him.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER? Did she call ya?!"

"Fuck, no, she didn't call me." Merle gasped out. "She's fine now. Up at my place."

"Why's she up there?" Daryl asked, seemingly forgetting he was sitting on his brother's chest in his panic over Amber.

"Get OFFA ME!" Merle pushed up and flipped them, gaining the upper hand. He pinned one of Daryl's shoulders with a knee. "She's up there cause I was sittin on my own damn porch swing, tryin ta be all romantical with angel, just so I could get ta second base. Then lo and mother fuckin behold I look over and see yore front door wide open in the damn rain." He stood up, nudging Daryl with the toe of his boot. "Get up, ya little prick. And don't try ta pull that blade on me again, or I swear I'll beat yore head in."

Daryl snarled at him but got up. Merle continued on. "So I have ta leave angel and go to yore place, to make sure your ass ain't havin no trouble. And guess what I found?" he didn't wait for an answer. "Lil' Sugar sittin on the dock in the god damn rain, squallin her eyes out. I couldn't get her ta make no sense. All she could say was that you didn't WANT HER! AFTER EVERYTHIN SHE'S DONE FOR YA! BOY, YA AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH TA TIE HER FUCKIN SHOES AND YA GO AND TREAT'ER LIKE SHIT!"

Merle dove for Daryl, his rage peaking again. He dodged him, and then turned and began yelling.

"I didn't fuckin say I didn't want her! Ya think I'm retarded or somethin? Course I want'er, ya don't see me buildin a house for nobody else, do ya? I just said I ain't gonna hurt her!"

Merle narrowed his eyes at him as he wrapped his arm around his ribs. "The fuck ya mean?"

"Doc told'er t'day she was well enough for us ta fuck. Said it'd hurt tha first time, like THE first time all over again." his eyes changed and he shook his head. "I ain't gonna hurt'er, Merle. I'll cut my own throat first."

His brother brought his free hand up to run it over his face and over his soaking hair. "Are ya really that stupid,boy? Ain't like you ain't never popped nobody's cherry before." he saw the look on Daryl's face and his mouth dropped open. "Shit, ya ain't have ya?"

Daryl squared his shoulders despite the red creeping into his cheeks. "In case ya didn't notice, ya prick, the women we useta pick up in those dive bars weren't tha virgin type."

"Dammit, kid..." Merle shook his head, losing some of his anger. "Ya think I'm lookin forward ta hurtin angel when I bust'er open, whenever tha hell that happens? It's part of it, dumbass. Fuck, it ain't even that bad, if ya take ya time."

Daryl's shoulders slumped and he shook his head.

Merle sighed. "Listen, ya don't wanta hurt'er? Well guess what, ya just about killed'er when ya walked outta that house! When I got'er up off the dock, she wouldn't even go back in the house cause ya weren't there. And she had mud all down one side and her elbow was scraped up. I'm pretty sure she fell on her way across the yard down to the pond."

"FUCK!" Daryl spun and launched a fist at the nearest tree.

"Calm yore ass down! She's fine! Looks like she fell on her ass, like at the clubhouse. But ya best fix this shit, and fast. I ain't never seen her this broke up."

Daryl turned back to him. "How? I done fucked it up too much."

The rain was slacking now, and Merle looked up at the clouds over the trees. "That's up ta you. You know what kinda shit works with'er. Try some a that sweet shit like ya do, she likes it for some damn reason. But whatever it is, ya better FUCKIN MEAN IT! Or I'll kill ya m'self."

Daryl tried to bring his thumbnail to his mouth and winced, the pain in his knuckles stopping him. "Ya reckon ya could help me move somethin?" he asked quietly.

"What?"

Daryl told him and Merle rolled his eyes.

"Damn, boy. Could ya not have asked me BEFORE ya busted m'ribs up?"

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An hour later the brothers rode up to the rental house on the quad, Daryl driving and Merle sitting backwards, legs hanging over the back. The rain had stopped as soon as they had gotten back to the trailer from the woods. They both grimaced when they got off the four wheeler, their fight taking it's toll. Merle walked up to the steps to his house, arm holding his ribs. Daryl was right behind, cheekbone already purple and eye blacking from the two shots Merle dealt to his face. Beth met them at the door, giving a surprised gasp. The elder brother just held up his hand.

"S'alright, angel. Jus had ta beat some sense in my dick head little brother. Done it before, probably haveta do it again sometime."

"Ya best not." Daryl grumbled under his breath. Beth shot him a glare.

"Where's baby girl?" he asked, looking around the living room.

"Why?" she answered bitterly. "So you can be a...a...BASTARD to her again?!"

Merle smirked at Beth's uncharacteristic attempt at cursing. "He's gonna try ta make it right, angel. Now where is she?"

Beth looked Daryl up and down with a frown before answering. "She's in the tub. I had some clean clothes in the car and hers were all muddy. I had to clean up her elbow where she FELL."

Daryl just nodded, taking the blame squarely where the young woman laid it. He turned down the hall toward the bathroom. His hand came up to knock but then he just turned the knob. Thankfully it was unlocked. He stepped inside silently, the only sound the click of the door shutting behind him. It was not lost on Daryl that here they were, yet again, handling the big stuff in a bathroom.

Amber was sitting with her eyes closed, her bad leg straight out in front of her in the water. Her good knee was drawn up with her arms wrapped around it. Daryl winced when he saw the raw scrape on her elbow.

"Beth, I said I was fine." she said, voice husky and broken.

He fell to his knees beside the tub. "Ain't Beth."

Amber's head jerked up, her eyes red and swollen from crying. They widened when she saw his face and her hand came up to his cheek.

"Oh god...why...I swear baby, I told Merle not to..."

Daryl shook his head and then lay his cheek against her hand. "S'alright girl. I deserved a lot more than this for what I did." he murmured. He reached up and placed his hand over hers. "I never said I didn't want ya, baby girl." he looked down almost shamefully. "I want ya more than I ever wanted anythin. I'm just so fuckin scared a hurtin ya."

"I'm tougher than I look, Desperado. I need you to take me back."

Daryl looked back up at her confused. Amber explained.

"Every time we do something, it's like you take a piece of me back from him. Like I get a part of me back. And this is the last thing left. I need you to take me back, Daryl."

"Ya belong ta yaself, girl."

Amber shook her head. "I used to. Up until that night by the fire pit, in the bed of your truck."

Daryl sighed. "Will ya come home, so I can show ya somethin? If ya want ta come back up here after ya see it, I'll bring ya."

Amber nodded and went to push up in the tub.

"Ya want me ta get Beth ta help ya, or ya want me to?" he asked.

"You."

He nodded and helped her dry off and get dressed in the t shirt and gym shorts. The scrape on her elbow was patted gently dry and then covered with gauze Beth had already laid out on the sink. Daryl opened the bathroom door and then scooped her up, headed for the front door. Merle and Beth were sitting on the couch and he jumped up to wordlessly to open the door for them. The look he gave Daryl said enough.

_This better work, asshole._

Daryl just nodded and walked out to the quad. With her brace off Amber could ride behind him and he almost groaned at the feeling of her curled around him, arms around his stomach. He yearned to be with her on the bike so bad he could almost taste it but the therapist said it would be at least another six weeks.

They rode across the back pasture in the dark, the only sound the motor beneath them. Daryl felt Amber turn her head when they got close enough to the trailer for her to see the soft light that came from the back yard. Instead of parking at the front steps he babied the four wheeler up the incline of the side yard. Amber let out a gasp when they rounded the corner of the house and came into the back yard.

Daryl parked the quad and pulled his leg over to sit with both over one side, facing where the light flickered. When he spoke it was almost a whisper, and he looked down at his hands.

"Figured we was startin over. Wanted ta do it right this time."

**Please don't hate me for where I ended this chapter! I wanted the next part to stand alone! I'll have it up shortly, I promise! We made it, woohoo!**


	64. Chapter 64

**I don't own "Come A Little Closer" by Dierks Bentley**

"Figured we was startin over. Wanted ta do it right this time."

Daryl looked up at Amber's face as the light played over it. Then he looked out over the foundation of the new house. Everything was as he had (with Merle's begrudging help) laid it out. The mattress off their bed lay on one corner, made up with their best sheets and every pillow they had in the house. He had gathered up everyone of those damned candles she liked so much, that seemed to sit on every counter, along with all the oil lamps and surrounded the bed with them. A few lit the way across the yard to the bed. He didn't even have to cut the flowers, they had purposely put the house in the middle of them and it was July. They were in full bloom in the flickering light.

Daryl looked back up at Amber, hoping beyond hope he would see something positive. Tears were dripping off her chin already. Damn she cried every time. He slid off the quad and eased her leg over so he could stand between her knees. Her arms went around his neck and a whimper escaped her throat.

"Hey...shhhhhh...girl..." he whispered, wiping his thumbs across her cheeks. He ducked his head, caught her eyes and smirked. "I'm guessin this is one a those good cries. Right?" he asked, honestly a little afraid he was wrong. She nodded and pulled him close. Daryl slid his arms around her to murmur in her hair.

"Listen, ya was always mine. From that time we danced in tha livin room on. Even when it was happenin, baby girl, ya was mine. There ain't no takin ya back, cause ya was never gone from me." Amber sobbed into his chest at his words and he reached down and picked her up off the quad. The action was as deeply ingrained in him as breathing now, without thought or strain. It just was.

Daryl carried her over to the bed he had made up, past the candles and lamps that led the way. He laid her in the middle of the pillows as if she were made of glass, then toed off his boots to lay beside her. He leaned over her on one elbow, looking at her as if memorizing her face.

"We gonna do this slow and easy t'night, a'ight? This ain't gonna be fuckin. Not this time."

Amber nodded up at him solemnly, breath hitching.

"Hold on. Almost forgot." Daryl said, sitting up to lean over the side of the mattress. He fiddled with Amber's mp3 player and portable speakers she had used that first night, cursing a bit.

"You need me to..." she offered, but he held his hand up.

"Naw, I got it."

The music began and two notes in she took a deep breath.

"That one a'ight?" he asked as he took his shirt off to settle back in next to her.

Amber ran her hands over his shoulders and just nodded, overwhelmed. Truth was, she couldn't have done better herself.

_Come a little bit closer baby_

_I feel like layin you down_

_On a bed of sweet surrender_

_Where we can work it all out_

_There ain't nothin love can't fix_

_Girl, it's right here at our fingertips_

_So come a little closer baby_

_I feel like layin you down_

Daryl leaned over her, kissing just so he could kiss her. Her tears made her lips sweet and salty at the same time and his chest tightened. He had done that, done something so good it made her like that. God, if that would be the only time she ever cried the rest of her life, just when he made her happy, he'd work his hands bloody just to make sure it happened.

Daryl ran the hand he wasn't supporting himself with down the side of her still damp face to her neck and down her side and hip, just amazed at how she felt next to and under him. Never in a million years would he have imagined a woman as sweet and good and fiery and strong as Amber would want him. She did though, already her hands were moving from his shoulders to his chest, caressing every plane, bulge and dip. He used to cringe inwardly when she touched his scars but now he sighed against her mouth when she traced the shiny lines. Only with her, always with her. Even her smell, that rain had passed over and it seemed like her smell was all around him, filling his head with her.

Daryl's hand slipped under the t-shirt and Amber arched her back, encouraging him. He lifted it, careful and slow over her head. Damn she was so beautiful, he loved that she let him take her outside like this. This was right, surrounded by the things that he had found his only solace in for so long, until he found her. Daryl had a sudden thought that she didn't realize where they were and he pulled back with a smirk.

"Look, girl, where are we?"

She looked up at him with a grin. "I'm smarter than you think, Desperado. This is our bedroom."

Daryl snorted and ran his fingers through her hair. She was right, this was going to be the first of many in that room, in that new house.

"Ya got me, girl."

Daryl took her mouth again, this time delving deeper, making his strokes long and exploring her mouth. His hand found her breast and he ran his knuckles over the swell, amazed as always at the softness. That she loved his rough hands to touch her, begged for it, still surprised him sometimes. Then he palmed the weight and groaned. She had gained the fifteen pounds back and she felt exactly in his hands as she had felt that first time he touched her in the kitchen. He brushed his thumb over the peak and she whimpered in his mouth. Daryl smirked against her. The last month had left her primed and on edge. Even though he had been embarrassed when she had said he was a generous lover, he had been a little proud too. He was about to prove to her just how generous he could be.

_Come a little bit closer baby_

_I feel like lettin go_

_Of everything that stands between us_

_And the love we used to know_

_I wanna touch you, like a cleansing rain_

_Let it wash all the hurt away_

_So come a little closer baby_

_I feel like lettin go_

Oh my god, this was too much. The bed, the lights, the music, the way he was touching her skin. Amber's senses were on overdrive. She stopped thinking out of self preservation, just going on instinct. When Daryl left her mouth she whined in protest but then his tongue and lips were on her neck. He groaned against her and she knew he approved of the way she tasted. God, his mouth was so hot, almost fevered like always. It was like she had never been with a man before him, not like this. Then it closed around her nipple and she cried out, the sensation immediately rocketing down to her core. That rough hand of his traced down her stomach and she lifted her hips, begging. He didn't disappoint, hooking his fingers into the waistband of the shorts, dragging them down her legs and off to leave her naked under the stars.

Daryl's hand slid over her naked hip, and then her ass, rough against soft, hot against cool. Then his palm flattened over her lower belly and she flexed her knees and hips. His hand left her for a second but then returned to push one of the pillows from beside them under her bad knee. She sighed and relaxed her leg against it. He had just told her he loved her, one of a thousand ways. Then his fingertips returned to her skin and his mouth moved to the other breast, slow and gentle, lapping and suckling. Daryl had meant it when he said tonight wasn't about fucking. His fingertips danced over her smooth shaved skin, so lightly she hardly felt the callouses drag against her. Then they found her wet, and he took in a breath sharply.

"Good Lord, baby girl." he said against her breast, "Been too fuckin long."

Amber nodded, it had. It felt like forever since he had touched her. She couldn't help but rock her hips up as he slid through her folds. She knew she was already dripping wet, it seemed like she had been that way for the last month. He found her clit and circled in the same rhythm as he sucked, and she found herself dangerously close in only a minute.

"Ohhhhhhhh, god, Daryl..."

He increased his speed by a single degree and she felt it beginning, the twitches. Her hips began to lift and he growled against her.

"That's it, girl. Come for me, god, baby girl, let me hear ya, sweet girl."

Then it hit her, sweet heat between her legs where his hand worked, urged on by his mouth at her breast. It tightened, pulled inward and then exploded out. She shamelessly screamed his name as Daryl worked her, not deviating from his rhythm, no matter how her hips tilted or the wet that flooded. That's what he wanted, the only way this was going to work.

_If there's still a chance_

_Then take my hand_

_And we'll steal away_

_Off into the night_

_Til we make things right_

_The sun's gonna rise on a better day_

Fuck, Amber was beautiful when she came. His name coming from her mouth nearly made him come himself. It had been so damn long since Daryl had seen that, heard that, it felt like forever. It meant so much more now, more than just raw sensation or arousal. He couldn't help but praise her as she came back down, kissing her mouth and telling her how pretty she was, how good she felt.

Then he ventured his fingers lower, slowly entering her with one middle one. Good lord, she had been tight before, but this was unreal. His cock jerked in his jeans, eager and harder than hard.

"Sweet Jesus, girl." he couldn't help but gasp when he finally got in up to his knuckle. Fuckin hell, he needed to make her come again before he ever took his jeans off, cause there would be no lasting once that skin tight wet was around his cock.

_Come a little closer baby, I feel like strippin' it down_

_Back to the basics of me and you_

_And what makes the world go 'round_

_Every inch of you against my skin_

_I wanna be stronger than we ever been_

_So come a little bit closer baby_

_I feel like strippin it down_

Oh god, just his finger in her was incredible and she wondered how she would ever take his cock. Amber didn't know, but she was damned eager to find out. He had filled her before, this would be almost too much. But she wasn't afraid, this was Daryl, he'd die before he hurt her. He kissed her for another moment and then his finger left her as did his mouth. His body slid down her and she moaned in anticipation of what she knew was coming.

He crawled back and down between her legs, tonguing down her stomach slowly. She begged pitifully, hands tugging down on his hair.

"Shhhh, sweet girl. I know, baby girl..."

Finally she felt his breath over her and she jerked. Then he brought her knees over his shoulders, the right one receiving a kiss over her scar before being slid ever so slowly to rest safely against his broad back.

Amber couldn't help but push up on her elbows, to look down at him and Daryl dropped his head, tongue dipping into her. He looked up and their eyes locked the moment it made contact. She cried out and he groaned as he began the rhythm that was theirs, the one that would have her screaming. Her head fell back on the mattress and her hands sought his hair.

Daryl took her to the edge and then traced down, entering her with his tongue. He stayed until she backed away a bit, and then came back up to her clit again. He resumed his rhythm and she felt a finger enter her, then a second, slower than slow joined it as she hovered over the edge. He scissored them open, just barely and dragged them out of her. He looked up at her the whole time and she realized what he was doing. He was trying to get her ready for him, making sure he wasn't hurting her. God, hurting was nowhere the right term. This was heavenly, the sensation like nothing she had ever felt. He did it again and she began to beg.

"Please...god, baby...let me come...PLEASE...god, keep doing that...don't stop..."

He wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked, copying the speed of his fingers. Her hands were on her breasts now, rolling her nipples. When he saw that, he increased his speed, growling around her. The vibration is what set her off.

This time was harder, rawer. His fingers were in her and the spasms had something to grip. She felt when the wet let down and Daryl groaned, letting her know he felt it too, tasted it. Her hips bucked so that he had to lay his palm just above where he worked to pin her to the bed, determined to drag it out as long as possible.

When she came back to coherent thought Daryl was kneeling at her side, the light flickering over him. When her eyes met his he smirked and his hands went to his belt buckle, pulling it open with exaggerated movements so that the buckle jingled loudly. She grinned back and twisted her body against the sheets. He was doing that for her, knew that she liked it. Then he stood for a second to shuck his pants and boxers and then was back by her, skin to skin.

Daryl kissed her and she found something she had missed so badly, tasting herself in his mouth. He let her have it, let her find herself in him even as he moved between her legs. Then he pulled back to look down so he could move Amber's bad knee farther out, moving the pillow with it. Then he came down on his elbows on either side of her head, face nearly touching hers as he whispered, his voice husky and deepening to baritone with want.

"Listen, girl. Lemme do it. A'ight? Jus let me do it, I'll get us there. Let me love ya, baby girl. And I'll stop if ya need me to, I swear, jus tell me."

She nodded, swallowing. "I love you, Desperado. I'm yours."

Daryl kissed her, a hand dropping between them to position himself. Then Amber felt his head against her, then in her. She felt herself stretching, accommodating his width. Daryl stopped for a second, his head dropping to her shoulder. Her hands drifted across his back, finding every mark, the muscles so tense they were like stone. Her hands fell lower, and she felt the muscles in his ass bunch and roll. He was fighting the urge to just thrust into her.

"Daryl, please..."

He nodded into her shoulder and advanced slowly. Amber fought the urge to cry out, biting her lip and hiding her face in his neck. He was so big, she was so tight, whichever, it didn't matter. If she made noise now he would stop and then she would die, go crazy, something. It was pain and pleasure mixed in such proportions that she couldn't name what it was. It was just him, invading her, taking her over, demanding her body become his.

Daryl stopped, his breathing whistling from his chest.

"Fuck baby girl, I ain't gonna be able ta last..."

"I know...oh god..."

His breath evened after a bit and he lifted his head, searching her face in the candlelight.

"Y'alright?"

She nodded. "Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"All of it...please." He was holding back on her, she knew, could tell by how he wasn't all the way against her below. Daryl's eyes widened and he dropped his head to hers.

"Girl..."

"Don't hold back from me." She tightened her hands on his ass, pushing down. He slid forward the last inch, moaning as he did. His body instantly became rigid again. Amber focused on breathing without grimacing. This is what she wanted, Daryl over her, around her, in her. Finally, she was whole again.

He waited until she looked at him pleadingly. "Daryl, move!"

He leaned down and kissed her for a second. "Once I do, I'm gone, girl." he said against her lips almost as if apologizing.

"Good. Do it."

He hitched his hips up, and he dragged out of her to push in again. Amber's back arched and then bowed, seeking to give him a deeper well to drink from.

"Holy fuck..." he gasped, eyes slamming shut. She hooked her good knee over his hip, feeling her body begin to stretch to him a bit better, he must have felt it too.

"That's it, that's my girl..."

Daryl found a rhythm, though a bit jerkier than normal. But then his legs began to tense and she knew he was going. She brought one hand up to stroke the side of his face, over his jaw as it tensed.

"Do it, baby. Come for me. I want to feel you baby. God, you feel so good, come for me." she urged

"Oh fuck..." his head dropped to her shoulder, and for the first time that night Amber felt his teeth. He suddenly tensed and roared her name, slamming into her a single time, so hard she could swear she saw stars. Then he was just grinding his hips into hers, teeth biting into her shoulder as he filled her with his heat.

It felt like he stayed that way for hours, though it was less than a minute. Then he sagged against her, thanking her quietly, telling her over and over again how he loved her, how pretty she was. He pulled his hips back and she mourned the loss of him from her body. He reached down, pulling her bad leg back down with her help and then rolling to her side.

Daryl's hand slid over her lower belly, a silent question, his eyes asking hers.

"I'm fine. Better than fine. I love you." It was the truth. She did ache, but it was a sweet ache of accomplishment, of a new beginning.

"Damn girl, I love ya." he kissed her, flipping the sheet over them. "We can go in if ya want."

"We are in silly. This is our bedroom."

He smirked down at her. "Yeah, you're right. It is."

_Come a little bit closer baby_

_I feel like layin you down_


	65. Chapter 65

**We get our ink, and then a little smutty game. Then the next chapter is PURE SMUT and the last one of this fic! Then we head into the sequel, "Better Dig Two"! Review me please!**

A week had passed since they had taken their ink and it was time for the grand "unveiling". Amber, Daryl, and Merle had chosen to take the full back tattoos in three sessions, which was unusual. It had taken each around eight hours a session and (maybe) a shared joint between the three of them for the pain. Amber and Daryl had taken side by side tables, with a female artist working on Amber and the male on Daryl. She had worn her open back bustier so she didn't have to undress, despite Daryl knowing tattoo artists see everybody's, well, bodies. It had been hard enough for Daryl to take his shirt off in front of two strangers. That was why Amber had begged her father to make an exception in Daryl's case and let her be in the room while he got his ink. Barry had been eager to make peace with his daughter and that was his chance. Merle had come in behind them, not as marred as Daryl, nor as shy. They all three had been sore for the next couple days, not getting much done. But now they were healed and it was time for them to be shown for the approval of the club leadership.

The three now stood in the meeting room, in front of Barry, Tyreese and Norm. Since an 'angel' was also being approved, Debra, Carol, and Kaye stood behind their husbands as they sat at the meeting table. Barry nodded to his daughter.

"Go ahead, Pooshie...I mean, Amber. Tell us what the boys have got here."

Amber smiled and looked up at Merle.

"Aw, lil' sugar. Ya gonna make me go first?" he huffed but then turned around, pulling his shirt off over his head. The DEMONS rocker was in Old English lettering between his shoulders. Below was a horned skull, with a set of scales in front of it. Across his mid back was the lower rocker, the name MASTEMA.

Amber gestured towards Merle's back. "The Demon Mastema. Tests to find who is good and who is evil, and punishes those who are found to be evil. He brings justice to those who are truly wrongdoers."

Merle spoke up. "In other words, pres, ya mess with my people, I fuck you up."

Barry barked out a laugh before he composed himself. He nodded as Merle turned around. "Good. Now Daryl."

Amber gave Daryl a look and he gave her a single nod back. He turned and pulled his shirt off slowly. Their were several gasps and a whispered "Wow." from Kaye. Amber grinned and Daryl smirked. The sounds weren't in disgust or surprise, they were in appreciation.

The DEMONS rocker across his upper back was the same as Merles, the only difference was the last letter had been worked into his existing tattoo of the demons on his shoulder. It now looked like they flew directly out of the club name.

The image below was of the upper body of a cloaked and masked archer, his arms crossed over his chest, bow in one hand, arrows in the other. The tattoo artist had customed the design a bit, changing the folds of the cloak so that Daryl's scars enhanced them, giving them a textured, almost 3D effect. A rattlesnake sat on the archer's shoulder, dripping venom onto the arrow heads.

Barry leaned forward. "Amber, I've never seen anyone use this one."

"I know, daddy. From what I've found, no one has, in any of the chapters. I guess because it's an archer." She pointed to the name LERAJE under the archer. "The demon Leraje, over all archers, bowmen, and great battles. He moves silently and invisibly when stalking his victims, which is why he's masked and cloaked." she continued on, pointing to the rattlesnake as the officers and their wives nodded. "His arrows are poisoned, so that if it doesn't strike a killing blow, the enemy dies from the poison, which is why we added the snake."

"Yeah, basically, ya ain't gettin away from my bro if ya piss'em off." Merle chimed in and everyone laughed for a second. Even Daryl grinned. Barry, Norm, and Ty shared a look and then all three nodded.

Daryl turned back around, pulling his shirt back on.

"Now you, Amber." Debra said quietly.

Her daughter turned, lifting her hair, the bustier showing all of her ink. She had full back angel wings with the bases of the wings on either side of her upper back. Between them was the name LERAJE. Above it was an arrow with a rattlesnake entwined around it.

Amber began "I'm wearing the ma..."

"She's wearin my mark." Daryl interrupted, blushing deep but not stopping, despite everyone's surprise. "The name Leraje, with my arrow and rattlesnake. She's mine."

Amber looked down and blinked away the tears that threatened. She knew what it took for Daryl to say something like that, even in front of people he considered friends and family.

"Beautiful." Kaye said softly and the other women agreed.

Amber dropped her hair, turning back around. Her father addressed Daryl seriously. "There was a time that I told Debbie that I never wanted to see Amber with her wings, that no Demon would ever be good enough for her. Part of that's still true. I still don't think any man is good enough for my little girl. But you're the one that's come the closest, and I'm proud to see her wear your mark." He turned so he could address Merle too. "This is a family, ties that are stronger than blood. You will kill for this family, you may die for this family. You've both proved yourselves capable and loyal. You both ride as Demons now." He nodded to Ty and Norm, who each threw a Dixon his vest, now bearing the full Demons patch on the back. They slipped them on immediately. "You wear our colors now. They are to be respected. Never thrown on the floor or left lying around. The saying is 'you treat your leather as good as your woman'. If they are stolen by a rival club or taken by the cops," Barry eyed both men carefully "I will fuck you up myself."

The brothers nodded solemnly.

Barry turned to Norm. "So now what do we do, brother?"

Norm looked at the Dixon's seriously. "Now...we go get shit faced drunk. Come on!"

Merle burst out laughing, headed to the bar. Daryl rolled his eyes and Amber grabbed his hand as everyone filed out, letting them past her before she turned on her crutches. She tugged him toward her, waiting until they were alone in the meeting room to speak. "You didn't have to do that, Desperado."

He shrugged. "Ya mine. Seemed I looked like a pussy if I didn't say so myself." He leaned over and kissed her.

Amber looked up at him after he pulled back. "You feel like getting shit faced drunk?"

"Cain't. I'm drivin."

"You forget we've already spent one night in a side room before."

He grinned at her. "Well, hell, girl. Get that ass ta the bar!" Daryl smacked her ass as she passed and Amber laughed. When they walked put into the main room it was crowded, the bar almost full. Finally she spotted Merle, who raised his arm to waive them over. Beth was sitting next to him, a coke in front of her. She had learned her lesson the first night at the clubhouse, limiting herself to one or two alcoholic drinks a night. The girl wasn't quite ready to take her wings, but was quickly becoming more comfortable in the clubhouse. She had talked to Amber before they headed out that night, nervously asking questions about a subject she wasn't familiar with.

"Ain't but one seat open, bro." Merle said as they walked up to the bar. "Looks like ya standin."

"I ain't fuckin standin. We don't need but one seat no way." Daryl slid into the seat and pulled Amber into his lap, to sit on his knee. He lay her crutches against the wall to the left, Beth and then Merle to their right.

Merle must have already ordered a round of shots because Carol had the bottle of liquor on the counter, with shot glasses in front of Daryl and Merle, then set down Amber's highball glass of whiskey. Beth gave Amber a grin and turned to Merle.

"Merle, Amber told me about something before we came tonight. You ever heard of body shots?"

Merle froze as he was pouring the liquor into his shot glass, nearly running it over onto the bar before he set it down. Amber heard Daryl snort behind her, his hand pressing his smokes and lighter into hers. She lit it and pressed it between his lips as she listened.

"Um...sure, angel. I've heard of'em. Done a few. Why ya ask?" Merle asked, looking hopeful.

"Weeeeeellll, I just thought maybe we could do some, kind of in celebration of you becoming a Demon and all." Beth fluttered her eyelashes up at him and Amber fought to keep a straight face. The girl was laying the innocent act on thick, just like she had told her to. Daryl's hand slid onto Amber's thigh and he leaned in to her ear.

"Ya had somethin ta do with that?" he asked, knowing full well the answer.

Amber smirked and leaned back against him. "Why, you want some too?"

Daryl pulled her hips down onto him, making sure she felt his erection through both their jeans. "Want more than a shot, girl."

Amber looked over at the couple next to them. Merle looked down at Beth and asked. "Ya sure, angel?"

"Yeah," she answered with a smile. "You just show me what to do. I think Amber and Daryl are gonna do it too."

Amber looked over her shoulder, looking for her parents. "Mama and Daddy done gone? I ain't doing it in front of them."

Merle laughed. "Hell, Lil' Sugar. Yore daddy grabbed a bottle a Jack as soon as they got out here and dragged her ta the back. Gonna do some a that..."

"MERLE!" she yelled and he just laughed. Amber had seen Norm and Kaye down against the wall on the other end of the bar, but it was obvious they weren't paying attention to anyone but each other. Amber was pretty sure SOMETHING was going on under the bar, away from prying eyes, but she really didn't want to think about it. That was almost like her parents.

"I dunno if Darylena can handle body shots, Lil' Sugar." Merle said in mock caution, as he picked Beth up to straddle his lap, her back to the bar. She leaned back on it on her elbows, just like they had discussed. "Never could get my little bro ta do'em on any women before."

"Fuck you, asshole." Daryl said back, sliding Amber off his lap for a second so he could turn her and lift her to straddle him. "Them whores you used ta fuck around with, I wouldn't have put my mouth on'em for a million bucks."

"Shut up, dumbass." Merle growled low, sliding his eyes over to Beth. Daryl just raised his middle finger in response, and then ran his hands down Amber's thighs with a smirk. The women's seating positions had started to draw the attention of the others sitting close by.

"This how we gonna do this, bro. Oh, hold up." He motioned over to Carol. "Salt and limes, sugar?" Carol brought over a salt shaker and a bowl of lime wedges, shaking her head and laughing. Amber had seen her do this very same thing herself. Merle continued now that they had their supplies. "Okay bro. We take turns pickin body parts. Then both take a shot from that part. I go first since I'm tha oldest."

"Fuckin course." Daryl grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Merle looked up at Beth, who had draped her arms over his shoulders. "We'll start easy, angel. Neck." Merle picked up the salt shaker, and ran his hand up in Beth's blonde hair, gently tilting her head to the side. Amber was proud of her, she acted like she had no nervousness now. Merle licked a trail up the side of her neck, salted it. He took the salt, slammed back his shot and then bit into the lime. "Yore turn, bro."

Daryl nodded, doing Amber the same way. She had to fight back a groan when his hot tongue traveled up her skin. He took his shot, giving Merle a smug look.

The older Dixon reached for the bottle but Amber snatched it away first, shaking her head. "Oh, no, boys. The girls are playing too." She and Beth couldn't help but laugh at the looks on their faces. But Merle recovered quickly, shoving the salt shaker into Beth's hand as he tilted his head over eagerly. The girl took her shot, to the applause of the crowd gathered around the newest Demons. Amber followed with Daryl, giggling when he blushed as her tongue traveled up to his scruff. He was still grinning though, not embarrassed enough to stop the game. "My turn ta pick." he said quickly. He thought for a minute, looking Amber up and down. "Hand."

"Chickenshit." Merle said under his breath. Daryl licked a trail from Amber's right palm to her wrist, salted it, and licked it again, letting his tongue play over her wrist for a second. Then his teeth bit into the thin skin over her pulse and her eyes widened as he took his shot with a smirk. He wasn't chicken shit, knowing exactly what he was doing. Merle followed his example with Beth, making her release a surprised "Oh." Amber narrowed her eyes at Daryl.

"Payback's a bitch, Demon." she said low.

He shrugged. "So are you. Now do it." He held his hand, palm up. Amber smirked at him and sucked his middle finger into her mouth instead of licking him, making sure she moved her tongue the same way she did when sucking a different part of his body. She saw his jaw tense as she made her way down to his knuckle, and heard a quiet, "Holy fuck." from Merle. She salted his finger, sucked it again (to catcalls from the crowd) and took her shot. She smiled at Daryl from around her lime.

Beth followed suit and Amber was sure Merle was about to pass out. Daryl punched him in the shoulder. "Ya sure ya can handle body shots, bro?" he asked chuckling. Merle just gave him a dirty look.

"My turn." Amber announced slyly. She leaned over to whisper in Daryl's ear. "You trust me, Desperado?" Daryl nodded.

"Ya know it, girl." he said back quietly. She nodded, sitting back on his knees.

"Belly." Amber knew he had almost no scars on his stomach. He nodded and stood, setting her in the chair. Then Daryl lifted the front of his shirt up to about four inches above his navel, just below where the scars started, and leaned back on the bar. Amber bent over, starting her tongue just above the waistband of his jeans over his happy trail. She felt his hips waver just a fraction of an inch under her mouth, barely controlling himself in front of the crowd. She had the feeling this game was close to being called due to excessive arousal.

Beth and Merle went next, Merle just pulling his shirt off. Amber saw his fingers go white as he gripped the bar while Beth's tongue found the salt on his stomach. She felt a little sorry for him. Just a little though.

The second Beth was done Daryl picked Amber up and sat her on the bar, grabbing the salt shaker with an evil grin. He pushed the bottom of her bustier about as high as what showed when she wore the black halter. Even Carol had stopped what she was doing to watch now.

Amber leaned back on the bar and Daryl licked from her waistband up as high as he could go without hitting fabric. Then he sprinkled the salt over, and finished the shot before pulling her off the bar to a round of applause. He just nodded shyly and grinned down at the floor, wrapping his arm around her waist to watch his brother and Beth.

Merle had sweat on his brow as he licked Beth's flat stomach. She just giggled, claiming his five o'clock shadow tickled. Then she sat up on the bar, bouncing. "My turn!" She looked over at Amber, biting her lip. "What should I pick?"

Before she could answer Merle shook his head vehemently, putting his hand up between them. "Oh NO ANGEL. That's cheatin. Ya AIN'T takin no advice from that lil' heathen!" Amber found the fact that Merle Dixon had just called her a heathen rather hilarious.

"Fine." Beth huffed, looking at Merle, who already had his shirt off. "Chest."

Amber felt Daryl's hand tighten around her middle. She leaned back to whisper up at him. "It's alright. I can do it without showing yours, trust me." He swallowed and nodded down at her nervously once.

Merle just grinned like an alligator and stepped up to where Beth sat with his hands on his hips. She licked between his pecs, salted, and then took her shot. Amber could see in her eyes she was starting to get lit. Hopefully the game would end soon, or the rest of what the girl had planned for the evening would be out.

Amber looked up at Daryl again. "Sit on the stool facing the wall and put me between your knees." He arranged them, a bit more relaxed once he saw what she was doing. Amber pushed his shirt up and licked across his chest. She stopped for a second before she salted it. "Relax baby," she murmured, "They can only see me, not you." Then she licked up the salt, but this time she traveled over to his nipple, nipping it. Daryl's hand slammed down on the bar and he jerked Amber up.

"FUCK!"

Amber grinned up at him as the women around them clapped and the men groaned. She wondered if people had placed bets on who would win, the Dixons or their women.

Daryl leaned over to hiss in her ear. "Ya dirty. Little. Bitch. She said CHEST!"

Amber tried her best to achieve Beth's innocent look. "Last time I checked, Desperado, your nipples are on your chest. That sucks, don't it?"

"Yeah, and you are too, here in a few."

Amber's head rocked back and she looked at Daryl wide eyed, mentally calculating how many beers and shots he had since they left the house. She was playing with fire and didn't know it. Fuck it, she felt like burning the place down now.

Daryl turned them so they could watch Merle and Beth, pulling Amber back to straddle him, no doubt in anticipation of his next shot. Merle had kept Beth on the bar, pushing her to lean back on her hands. She wore Amber's halter top like her first time at the club. He licked across her chest, his face flaming, daring only enough to dip into her cleavage by a scant inch. He took his shot quickly, earning some laughter when he had to adjust his jeans a moment later.

Then Daryl took the salt shaker, Amber's cleavage in the exact right spot. She had a good bit more 'real estate' to work with than Beth. Daryl was bolder than Merle, Amber's bustier giving him more room to work too. He flattened his tongue over one swell, diving deep into her exposed cleavage and back up the other side. Amber felt the salt sprinkle over her skin but stopped Daryl before he could drop his head. He grinned at her, confident the men had just won. Amber shook her head and grabbed a lime wedge, shoving it down between her breasts. "Lime too, Demon."

The women in the crowd hooted as Daryl glared at her. He did it though, pushing down into her cleavage to retrieve the lime, coming back with it triumphantly in his teeth. Amber could feel his cock straining against his jeans under her and she found her self wishing the game would end soon, instead of hoping to extend it.

"My turn!" Merle crowed, arms crossed over his chest. He looked over at Daryl. "We bout ta win this shit, bro. Ya just watch." He looked at Amber. "Since the pres's girl decided ta change thangs up a bit with the lime, I get ta decide who gets ta take their shot first, along with the part."

Amber just shrugged cooly. Whatever.

He turned his eyes to Beth. "Angel goes first." He looked at the crowd. "Ass." he said with a smile.

Amber's mouth dropped open and she looked over at Beth. She started to tell her she didn't have to but the girl shook her head at her, suddenly looking surprisingly sober and well, very un-Beth like. She waited until Merle turned to look at her and slid off the bar to stand in front of him with her own arms crossed, fixing him with a glare.

"Drop'em."

The crowd roared and Merle gaped. "Angel..."

"I said drop'em Merle." she said firmly. "It was your pick."

Merle's lips tightened in a firm line. "Fine then, MISSY. Ya about ta get a view of some FINE Dixon ASS!"

He stepped up to the bar, unbuckling his belt. Amber heard Daryl chuckling behind her, clearly forgetting he went next. She warned Merle.

"Just to your hips, Merle. Enough to take the shot. I'm not in the mood for your full frontage where I drink."

He shoved his pants down to his hips and leaned over the bar, glaring at her. "I get the feelin this whole damn thing is your fault!"

Amber shrugged. "You're the one that picked ass." She mouthed two words at Beth over his shoulder. She nodded back with a grin and leaned over, licking from his hip down to where his waistband was about a third of the way down his ass cheek. Merle laid his head on the bar and muttered.

"Fuck my life."

Then Beth salted the wet trail gleefully and leaned back over. Exactly three seconds later Merle jumped about a foot off the ground and roared loud enough to be heard over the crowds laughter. He jerked his pants up, turning around. "BETH!" he yelled, using the girl's name in anger and surprise. She just took her shot and sucked the lime. He whirled around to put a finger in Amber's face. "YA FUCKIN TOLD'ER TA BITE ME!"

Amber stuck her tongue out. "What ya gonna do about it?"

He looked at Daryl. "SHIT BOY! Do somethin with ya bitch!"

Daryl stubbed out his cigarette, speaking so that only Amber could hear. "I plan ta, here shortly." He gave Amber a resigned look. "Where ya want me?"

She smiled. "Ass toward the wall, like with your chest. Lean over the stool." Daryl stood in front of the chair, waiting until he saw her watching to unbuckle his belt. The women in the group hooted, urging Amber on as she walked (hopped really) between him and the wall. Daryl caught her arm and leaned over to her ear. "Don't ya dare bite me, or I swear ta fuck I'll pull ya britches down and bust ya ass in fronta ever Demon here." Amber nodded, actually intrigued by the threat, perhaps without an audience though.

Daryl cocked his hip out and hooked his thumb in his jeans on the side away from the crowd. He pulled them down enough, only revealing some taught muscles and the edge of a single scar. Amber's mouth watered and wet traveled south also. She seriously considered throwing the game just so they could get somewhere else quickly. But then she saw Merle smirking and thought better of that. It was almost over any way. She slid between Daryl and the bar, holding on to both for support to stay off her bad leg.

She leaned over, well pleased that Daryl's cheeks (the upper ones) were so red they looked about ready to burst into flames. She licked from his hip to the middle of his cheek (a lower one) and salted it, the crowd chanting her name. She took the salt and nearly laughed when she felt him tense under her tongue, expecting the bite. She didn't though, instead standing up quickly and smacking his ass hard before he could jerk his pants up. He buckled his belt hurridly, roaring. "THAT'S IT!"

She held her hands up. "Uhuh, don't you dare! You said I couldn't bite, and I didn't!"

He glared at her, clenching and unclenching his fists. Amber grinned back, he was gonna fuck her so hard, she was sure of it. Daryl had been very sweet this last week since their lovemaking had resumed. She came more times in the last seven days than she had in the last year, even by her own hand. But she wanted fucked tonight, and knew how to get it. A combo of a lot of alcohol, a little anger, and a shit ton of horny made Daryl Dixon a very naughty boy.

"Besides," she said,"it's your turn." Her hand went to the button on her jeans and Daryl's eyes got as big as saucers. He looked over at Merle, who looked back with a scowl.

"Don't ya dare forfeit, boy. We're winnin this shit."

Daryl's eyes went to all the Demon's in the room. There were no less than fifty men between the ages of twenty one and sixty who were about to see Amber's bare ass.

Daryl's body tensed. "Bro," he said low.

"NO! DO IT!" Merle growled.

"Bro, if she does it, then Beth's next." Daryl said, watching Amber turn towards the bar, ready to pull down her jeans.

Merle froze, his eyes going to Beth who looked back cooly, knowing she had enough liquid courage to follow after Amber.

Merle sighed and jerked his head at his brother. They both stepped up to the bar between the women, turning their shot glasses upside down, admitting defeat.

The crowd erupted, women screaming and men yelling in outrage. Amber redid the button on her pants, suddenly surrounded by her 'aunts' yelling praises. She was pretty sure she saw some be handed cash from their husbands, winning bets. Most of those same husbands then proceeded to slap at the back of the Dixon's heads good naturedly. Amber had hung around the clubhouse to know the majority of those men had lost similar competitions at one time or another. That included Tyreese, who was now watching Carol happily count the bills he just handed her.

The crowd dispersed back over the clubhouse now that the show was over and Merle and Daryl stood in front of their respective women.

"Yore ass is in trouble." Daryl growled.

"Yore's too." Merle gritted out to the little blonde in front of him.

Amber fluttered her eyelashes. "Baby..."

Daryl stepped up, pinning her against the bar. She could feel his erection straining against his jeans into her stomach.

Merle was hovering over Beth. She crooked her finger to him and he leaned down for her to whisper in his ear. His scowl quickly turned into a wide eyed grin. Amber knew she was telling him that she had gone on the pill a couple weeks before, and was now 'covered'. Beth wanted to give Merle more than body shots for a welcome to Demonhood present.

"Ya sure, angel?" he asked hesitantly, his anger disappeared.

She nodded up at him shyly. Merle spoke to Daryl out of the side of his mouth, his eyes not leaving his 'angel'. "That mirror room's second on the left, right bro?"

Daryl nodded. "Sure as fuck is. But it's gonna be occupied by the time yore slow ass gets there." He jerked Amber up over his shoulder so fast that she squealed and grabbed the half empty bottle of liquor before he turned and headed toward the back at a fast clip. Merle was right behind, dragging Beth by her hand as the others laughed.

"GODDAMMIT BOY!"


	66. Chapter 66

**Last chapter of this fic! We made it! I love you all so much!**

**I want to thank rancidamy for drawing my attention to the mistake with the time it took to do the ink, and I edited that chapter accordingly!**

**Thanks to SOA loving mom, without whom I never would have had the bravery to write this fic!**

**WARNING: ROUGH SEX, GUYS! Most of you know how I roll. Get a fan, some smokes, some ice water, whatever ya need! EXPLICIT SEX ACTS AHEAD!**

"You little fuck!"

Merle roared as Daryl nearly ran into the mirror room with Amber screaming laughing as her head bobbed over his shoulder. His younger brother's only answer was a smirk and a raised middle finger as he turned and kicked the door shut. The lock clicked closed a second later.

Daryl sat Amber down on the dresser that sat against one wall, pouncing on her as soon as he dropped the bottle of whiskey on the wood next to her. One hand went to her hair, jerking her head back, while the other went to her hip, pulling her roughly against him to grind into her heat.

"What the FUCK was that out there!?" he hissed.

"That was me owning your ass, Demon." she said with a smug grin.

Daryl's eyes softened for a second and his hips stilled. "Ya sure ya ready for it like this again, baby girl?" he asked quietly, love cutting through the alcohol and lust for a moment.

She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes at him. "Like I said, Demon, I owned your ass in front of the whole club. WHAT are you gonna do about it?"

Daryl's hand tightened in her hair again, his hips resuming their grinding. He was satisfied with her answer. "I'm gonna fuck ya blind, that's what your gonna get for actin like that." His hand left her hip, pulling at the hooks of the bustier at the small of her back. "Get this shit OFF, or I will FUCKIN CUT IT OFF!" he snarled, head dropping to bite and suck at her neck. Amber moved her hands from where they were fisting his vest and shoved them behind her, releasing the hooks from the loops. Daryl pawed the fabric away, roughly squeezing her flesh in his hot hands. Amber's back arched and she moaned, pulling at his vest. Daryl's hands came off her long enough for her to pull it off his arms and lay it beside her on the dresser. Even in his lust haze, he registered that she treated it different now that it had the full club colors. She respected it, which meant she respected HIM, and for some reason that made him want her screaming his name even more. He rolled her nipples roughly between his thumbs and forefingers. Amber pulled at his shirt now and he raised his arms so she could jerk it over his head. Good thing he wasn't wearing anything else up top, because he was starting to get a little pissed at his 'titty time' being interrupted. Amber's head fell against his chest, she ran her tongue over his collar bone and then bit his shoulder.

"Fuck YES, baby girl. I missed that shit." Daryl growled.

Amber's nails raked down his sides and his hips jerked.

"Bed. Now." she commanded.

"Why?" he demanded, liking how things were going on the dresser.

Her reply was muffled, his skin between her teeth again, but he was able to make out the words "suck" and "cock". A second later she was lifted from the dresser and carried over to the bed.

Daryl was drunk, not stupid.

Amber scrambled back on the bed and he went to follow but she flapped her hand towards the dresser.

"Smokes. Whiskey. NOW."

Daryl spun around grabbing the bottle and pulling a cigarette and his lighter out of his vest. If she wanted him to drink and smoke while she gave him head, who the hell was he to argue?

Amber sat against the headboard now, legs out in front of her. The way they had accomplished blowjobs so far, with her bad knee, had been in bed, her laying beside and down on him. He had no idea what she was going to do now, but fuck it, Amber hadn't disappointed him yet.

He handed her the bottle and put the cig in her pretty mouth, lighting it before stowing the lighter on the nightstand. Then he toed off his boots and crawled up the bed. Amber spread her legs and motioned between them.

"On your knees, here."

He smirked taking the position. Amber held the cigarette up and he took it with his mouth. Then she held up the bottle of liquor. Daryl took it, taking a long pull as she undid his belt, pulling it through the loops to lay it next to her. Amber undid his button and then the fly, finally he got a little relief. She quickly shoved his jeans and boxers down to his knees, not hesitating to wrap her lips around his cock and swallow it down as far as she could take it, which was nearly all the way now.

"SHIT!" he roared, nearly dropping the bottle and biting the cig in half. He glared down at her, pulling the smoke out of his mouth. "Ya dirty little bitch! Keep that shit up and I'll end up comin down ya throat instead a in ya pussy."

Amber moaned around him, feeling wet flood the crotch of her jeans. She loved it when Daryl fucked her drunk, he always had such a dirty mouth. She pulled back and released him with a wet pop as his head came from in between her lips. She looked up at him, trying to give him her best "dirty little bitch" face. "Go ahead, that's what I want. We've got all night." She dove back on his member before he could respond to her dare. It didn't take him long though.

"Hand me that goddamn BELT! I'ma gonna show ya fuckin 'go ahead', little girl."

Amber took a hand off his thigh to grab the belt and hand it up to him. Daryl took it from her as she worked him, setting the bottle to the side as her sweet wet warm mouth slid up and down his cock. She was looking up expectantly and he grinned down at her like Satan himself as he flicked his cigarette in the general direction of the ashtray on the nightstand.

"Ya like this belt s'damn much," he said as he wrapped the ends of the leather slowly around his fists, "let's fuckin use it." He dropped the middle of the belt that was between his fists down over the back of her head and neck and began to pull on it and release, using it to control the speed and depth that she sucked him. Amber shuddered when she felt it and loosened up her upper body, letting Daryl control her. Then her hand came up, fingers dancing over his scrotum. He took a second and pushed his knees as far apart as he could to give her better access before he resumed the rhythm with the belt.

"There ya go girl. God damn, ya always s'greedy for my cock. FUCK!" Amber had tightened up her mouth, hollowing her cheeks and cupping her tongue around the bottom of his shaft. Daryl had no idea where or how Amber learned to give head, but good lord, she was gonna make him come so hard his heart stopped.

He heard a zipper and looked down. "Holy shit." Amber's free hand was in her jeans now. His head snapped over to look in the mirror to his right. He had forgotten about the damn mirror. Sweet Jesus, the view would make him come just by itself. Daryl was towering over Amber, her head buried and bobbing in his crotch. Every so often she would come back far enough for him to see his cock sliding wet between her lips. He had that belt in his fists, using it to control her actions, his arms flexing with every movement. One of her hands was just below where her mouth worked, rolling and tugging his goddamn nuts that way she did that had him bucking and twisting his hips to get more. But then, her other hand was in her own jeans, working that sweet little pussy of hers.

"Ya DIRTY little bitch!" he hissed, feeling his release beginning to build. "Ya just couldn't wait, could ya? Ya got s'worked up suckin my cock ya had ta touch ya self."

Amber moaned around him and he saw her hips begin to lift. Daryl sped up the speed on the belt, deepening the stroke. He knew Amber wasn't one to do stuff she wasn't comfortable with, if he gagged her (too much) she would push back.

"That's it girl, come while my cock's in ya throat. I wanna feel ya scream around me, baby girl." Fuck, she just tightened up on his balls a little, and it felt so damn good. He felt the pressure start to build at the base of his spine, right at the top of his ass. Then Amber began to jerk against him and her mouth and throat began to vibrate around him. She was screaming around him, just like he wanted. A thought popped up in the back of his head but it was too late to worry about it.

Daryl bucked, pulling hard on the belt even though he tried not to. God, this was so fuckin dirty, it was perfect. He came hard, his head snapping back as he roared, hips pumping against her. He couldn't even curse, it was like he lost his mind for a minute, lost in the sweet heat of her mouth, her cool hand on his balls, and the image of her fingers working in that sweet little pussy of hers while she swallowed him down.

Then Daryl was collapsing down on his back on the bed, Amber ducking her head so the belt slipped out from behind it as he flopped back. He realized he still had his jeans half on as he clumsily stretched his legs over her left one but didn't give a shit. Amber fell back on the headboard. She went to pull her hand out of her jeans and before she could get her fingers clear of the denim he growled.

"That's mine. Give it here."

She chuckled huskily, leaning over and reaching out to put her fingers in his mouth. Daryl hummed around them as he sucked them clean, his spent cock twitching a bit at the taste in his mouth.

"Damn, you're dirty." Amber said, her voice scratchy. She leaned over and grabbed the bottle of whiskey with her free hand, taking a drink. She cleared her throat, "There, that's better."

Daryl released her and unwound the belt from his hands. "Ya the dirty one girl. I wasn't tha one rubbin one out while I gave head."

Amber snorted. "We're a matched set then."

"Fuck yeah we are. Gimme a minute and we'll fuck."

"God, I love it when you get romantic."

They both laughed then. Daryl sat up after a minute, pushing his jeans and boxers the rest of the way off. Then he helped Amber with hers as she lifted her hips for him. He smirked when he saw the crotch was soaked. Then he noticed something was missing.

"Where are your damn panties?"

She grinned. "Didn't wear any."

"Ya ain't had no panties on SINCE WE LEFT THE HOUSE?"

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Nope. I wanted to see how long it took you to notice."

Daryl rolled his eyes, moving to lay on one elbow as she lay on her back beside him. He leaned down to kiss her, his hand on the curve of her hip, tasting himself in her mouth. After a minute he moved back, smirking. "Sorry if I gagged ya. Didn't mean ta pull on the belt like that when I came."

Amber shrugged. "I didn't notice. I was busy myself."

"Yeah, I got scared for a minute that ya might bite me.

Amber's eyes widened in mock horror. "Bite THAT? Oh, honey, I need you in perfect working order. Biting that cock would be like destroying a work of art."

"Pfft." he scoffed. "Ya just remember that."

Amber pulled him down with her arms around his neck for another kiss. It was hungry, they obviously were nowhere near done for the night. His hands traveled over her skin, squeezing her breasts before he broke the kiss, moving down her body. He bit and licked a path to her chest, teeth sinking into one firm globe and Amber cried out, clutching at his head. He chuckled evilly and pulled back his head to admire his handiwork. Daryl must have been satisfied with it because he moved to the other side, immediately sucking her nipple into his mouth hard, tongue and teeth working it over. The hand he wasn't supporting himself with dug into her hip and Amber lifted her knees, letting her right rest across Daryl's ass.

"What ya wantin, little girl?" he asked, wanting to hear her say it.

"Need you, Daryl..." she almost whined, her hands in his hair, pulling down.

"No, girl, tell me. M'hands or m'mouth?" he asked around her nipple.

"BOTH! BOTH DAMMIT!" she cried out, pushing Daryl down.

"Ya greedy little bitch!" he snarled, digging his hands into the sheets at her side to push farther down Amber's body. Her bad knee was already over his back so he just jerked the left over his shoulder and buried his mouth in her. Amber shrieked and Daryl groaned, assaulting her clit with his teeth and tongue, rougher than he usually did. She was so fuckin wet, soaking his scruff within seconds.

"Holy fuck baby girl, I love yore pussy." he muttered before diving back into her. He shoved two fingers into her roughly, after the last week he now was acquainted with what she could take. Amber bucked, riding up against his face as he fucked her with his mouth and hand. Her hands were pulling at her own hair now, as she said things that just spurred him on.

"FUCK DARYL! Oh my GOD! That's IT baby! DON'T STOP! PLEASE DON'T STOP!"

He sucked hard on her clit, crooking his fingers inside her, twisting his wrist to drag them down hard the front wall of her. Amber screamed and he felt her slam down around his fingers. Her hips bucked hard but Daryl rode it out, keeping his mouth down around the twitching nub as his name bounced off the mirrors around them. When she collapsed down on the bed he found all her wet, taking from her what she had taken from him. She wasn't the only greedy one in the room.

As soon as his head popped up Amber pulled at him, digging her nails into his shoulders. Daryl shot up her body, ending up on all fours over her. He dropped onto his elbows next to her head, bringing his head down and shoving his tongue in her mouth. He knew what she wanted, she wanted to taste herself in his mouth. Amber moaned against him, one hand raking her nails down his back while the other circled his cock, taking up the same fevered pace as their tongues. He was rock hard again, her fingers finding the pre-cum and spreading it over his head as she stroked him.

"God DAMN baby girl!" he yelled as his head rocked back. He had never been able to get back up this hard this fast. Amber released him, twisting under him. Daryl's eyes widened at her turning over onto her belly. He sat back on his heels between her trembling legs.

"Fuck me, Demon!" she ordered over her shoulder, "I want you to see your mark while you fuck me!"

Daryl swallowed, she had been hurt from behind. He hesitated, "Your knee girl..."

"Figure something OUT THEN! I NEED THIS!"

Her last words made him explode into action. If there was one thing he understand, it was making sure Amber had what she needed.

Daryl straddled her good leg and picked up her hips. He hitched the right one up higher, keeping most of her weight off her right knee as she pushed up on her hands. He adjusted his hips behind hers, bringing his right thigh up under Amber's. Surprising to him, it worked, putting him in position, his cock up against her dripping wet slit.

"Tell me if it hurts and I'll..."

Amber looked back over her shoulder. "Hurt me good." she snarled.

Daryl brought his left hand off her hip, the weight of that side was on her good knee. He smacked her ass hard and then thrust into her even harder. They both cried out, Amber grabbing the headboard for leverage to push against him and to help support her weight.

Daryl couldn't take his eyes off his ink on her back. There was no undoing that, she would wear it forever. His arrow and his rattlesnake, the same name that was now on his own scarred back. He pounded into her, head down so he could see her wings and his mark. Up until that point he hadn't really gotten the whole ownership thing, but seeing that ink on her sweet soft skin did something, flipping a switch in his brain.

Daryl reached down, wrapping his broad fist in her hair and then jerked her back up and against him. Amber yelped, bringing her hands back behind her head to clutch at his neck. Daryl brought his right arm around her waist, holding her so he could thrust into her. Her mouth was open as she panted, her eyes closed. He could tell she was close by how she tightened up even more around him. He jerked her head back a little, her nails digging into his neck as she whimpered.

"Ya MINE! Ya HEAR ME?"

Amber nodded. "Yes...yes...oh god...only you...always you..."

"Ain't another man EVER gonna touch ya, EVER!"

Amber shook her head as best she could with him pulling her hair. "No...never.." she whimpered and then she began to moan low, building louder until she was shuddering against him as she screamed.

Daryl pulled her head over and dropped his mouth to the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder. He drove into her one last time as they came together, a single word burning into his brain as his teeth sunk in her tender flesh and he tasted copper and cool water.

MINE

**Aaaaaaaaaaaand, that's a wrap! Y'all like? Then put a review on it!**

**The sequel "BETTER DIG TWO" will have it's first chapter posted either today or early tomorrow! Keep your eye out and fave and follow please! I write because I know you read! The sequel is going to have more badassery (of course, they're Demons now!) danger, action, drama and smutty smutty SMUT! Also keep an eye on the spin off Home Sweet Home by SOA loving mom which will continue to augment my story line! See you guys over at Better Dig Two! Let's ride!**


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